In an area infamous for traffic congestion due to the growing number of housing developments, a new residential development is moving forward on Catlett Road.
The plans for the 9.2-acre site – which currently has one home on it – includes 31 new single-family homes.
Officials say relief is coming for traffic troubles in Gluckstadt, but the first road widening project will not be complete until December 2019.
Neel-Schaffer provided traffic analysis of the proposed residential development on Catlett Road to the Madison County board of supervisors.
The property is located between Falls Crossing and Catlett Road, south of Luebirdia Lane.
Access to the site is proposed to include a single site driveway on Catlett Road.
Supervisor Trey Baxter said the development is to be a retirement community, which means 80 percent of residents must be 55 years old or over.
“So, it’s unlikely that the residents will be traveling in peak hours,” Baxter said.
Jonathan Kiser, a transportation and traffic manager for Neel-Schaffer, said that since the development is small, it is unlikely there will be much of a negative effect on traffic.
“Of course, there will be traffic that wasn’t there before,” Kiser said. “But I don’t see any adverse impacts from this small of a development.”
If there is any added traffic due to the development, Baxter said there is work underway in that area to relieve traffic woes.
The expansion of Gluckstadt Road will begin in March and is projected for completion December 2019.
Baxter added that the county recently received $8 million from the sate for the Reunion bridge last week. He said an engineer has been hired for the environmental study, which should take approximately 10 months.
Once the environmental study is complete, the design and right of ways will be the next phase. That portion of the project will take approximately two years.
The property on Catlett Road, which will be home to the new residential development, was rezoned to R5 for patio homes.
The homes will have a 2,000 square foot minimum, with lots ranging from 7,011 to 11,898 square feet, according to Madison County zoning administrator Scott Weeks.
Kiser said Neel-Schaffer also made recommendations for auxiliary lanes in the area. He said they particularly encouraged a left turn lane for Falls Crossing.
Other recommendations include clear and maintained sight triangles, widening Catlett Road to provide 1,400 feet of center turn lane and traffic control change to either a traffic signal or roundabout at the Catlett Road and Stribling Road Extension intersection.
