NEW Old Kings Road Opens to Traffic
An improved and realigned 1.6 miles of Old Kings Road between State Rd 100 and Town Center Pkwy opened last night without fanfare.
Palm Coast, FL – May 1, 2010 – In Palm Coast, Florida, an improved and realigned 1.6 miles of Old Kings Road between State Rd 100 and Town Center Pkwy reopened last night without fanfare. The one-year project improved the deteriorating two-lane rural road to a four-lane divided urban highway complete with a landscaped median, curbs & gutters, sidewalk, and bike lane.
Property owners along Old Kings partnered with the City of Palm Coast to fund the reconstruction. Owners pledged an amount equal to the cost of a 4-lane upgrade to rural standards – no curbs & gutters, no sidewalk. The owner’s share will be funded by revenue from a special taxing district set up for that purpose. The city picked up the tab for the additional cost of upgrading to urban standards.
A portion of Old Kings was realigned westward toward Interstate 95 enabling platting of larger lots on the east side of the road with visibility from I-95. Walmart plans to build a new Supercenter on one of these parcels. Take a drive on the new section and you can see the two curb cuts and deceleration lanes for Walmart already designed into the highway. They’re on the east side of the road. Below are an aerial map of the realignment, and Walmart site plans and building elevations. The aerial map takes a while to load but is worth the wait.
Aerial Map showing repositioned Old Kings Road (this takes a few minutes to load but it’s worth the wait)Site Plan (Note the storm water retention pond separating the parking lot from the road)
The reopening and upgrade are bound to help Coconuts Carwash. It should help Kings Pointe Developer LLC’s efforts to sell parcels in their commercial project on the northeast corner of Old Kings and SR 100. I drove through that project today and noticed a parcel (opposite Coconuts) sports a "Pending" sign.
Road is very attractive
Drove it last night before dark. To my surprise while going south on OKR planning to turn into the detour through Town Center, I found the new road wide open! It’s really quite nice.
I understand why it was built, but it’s almost too bad that some of the natural beauty will be sacrified for another Walmart. (I appreciate the jobs and economic benefits, and even the demographics behind the decision to build – I just like green spaces.)
All dressed up and no place to go
The Walmart Super Center was to be built at the same time as the newly aligned Old Kings Road. Landon even signed an agreement with Walmart officials stating so. Then Walmart backed out, stating a slow economy was not giving them the anticipated foot traffic for the new store. As it looks now, they are slowly converting the old Walmart to a Sams Club, as bulk products line the isles. They have not stated yet but I think we will end up with one Walmart Super Center, and a Sams Club. That’s OK, but for many the new store will be out of the way, and the net result may be a loss of business for them and an increase for Publix, Winn Dixie, and Target.The new store will be so big, many will not go there for small purchases, as the drive won’t be worth it. The North end of Old Kings will be an unwelcoming way to get to the new Supercenter, as it is slow and a long drive for every day shopping. As for the roadway, being full of curves now, it will need to be posted very slow, as the former alignment was a straight shot, with no sharp curves, as the new alignment has.
are they done?
I was wondering if there was any plans to redo the north half of old kings road where it becomes 2 lanes again or is the project complete?
Reply to Josh
The section north of the new construction will be upgraded also – but to rural standards rather than urban standards. It will be four lanes with a median but no curbs & gutters and no sidewalk.