Pastor Fears Traffic Congestion

SPRING HILL - JCPenney at Nature Coast Commons is scheduled to open in March.

Also expected to move into that shopping complex off U.S. 19 just south of Spring Hill Drive is a Books-A-Million and other retailers.

Adjacent to the site is a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a bank of smaller stores that already account for thousands of cars accessing busy U.S. 19 daily.

All of this commercial activity concerns the Rev. James McAteer, pastor of St. Theresa Catholic Church, situated just south of it all.

He's worried that parishioners leaving church after Saturday and Sunday services will get entangled in traffic leaving the stores. It should be particularly bad along Wendy Court, where motorists exit to U.S. 19 by the KFC restaurant, he said.

McAteer said he would like to see a traffic light at that location.

"I would hope the county would see a need for it," McAteer said.

McAteer said the extra congestion should not affect nearby Notre Dame School because classes are not held during the weekend, when he expects the biggest traffic crunch.

As it turns out, the pastor will see some road improvements. But he won't get the traffic light at KFC.

County Engineer Charles Mixson said the developer will pay to put in an additional left turn lane off Pepper Street, where Denny's Restaurant is located. To facilitate that lane, there will be improvements to the existing traffic light at that intersection, which exits on U.S. 19.

Mixson said the developer completed a traffic study there and the roadway meets the level of service standards.

McAteer said he is happy to hear about the lane improvements, even though he still believes a separate traffic light would be better.

Safety, he said, is paramount - not only for his parishioners but for shoppers coming from JCPenney.

"We'll see how it goes," he said.

Tampa-based Opus South Corp. is developing the 42-acre site, which contains 350,000 square feet of retail space.