When a new gas station is built at the intersection of South Highway 47 and Warrior Avenue in Warrenton, it won’t have its planned “right-in, right-out” entrance along southbound …
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When a new gas station is built at the intersection of South Highway 47 and Warrior Avenue in Warrenton, it won’t have its planned “right-in, right-out” entrance along southbound Highway 47. Instead, the only access to the property will be from Warrior Avenue.
Crews working for property owner Nirdosh LLC are currently developing the northwest corner of the intersection as a gas station, convenience store, restaurant and car wash. Initially, they had planned on building entries and exits on both Highway 47 and Warrior Avenue.
However, project engineers told Warrenton city leaders in October that the Missouri Department of Transportation had revoked permission for the gas station developer to place an entryway on Highway 47. MoDOT had initially given its blessing when the development was being planned, according to engineer Bart Korman.
The problem, explained Korman, is that MoDOT has already approved another side road connection from Highway 47 into the undeveloped property just north of the gas station site. Despite the fact that no road actually exists there, and no specific development has been proposed there, a second review from MoDOT declared that the theoretical road is the only remaining connection that will be allowed on that section of Highway 47.
Therefore, the gas station’s access to Highway 47 simply isn’t allowed, Korman explained.
“We had initial permission from MoDOT that that was an acceptable location. ... (Then) it had to go up higher in the chain of command at MoDOT, and then it got rejected,” Korman commented.
“We still have plenty of access on Warrior Avenue,” Korman added, saying the drive areas within the site will still accommodate the traffic flow in and out of a single entrance. He also said the traffic light at Highway 47 and Warrior Avenue has multiple lanes and enough length to “stack” cars on Warrior Avenue without causing a traffic issue.
Because of that change to the project, engineers needed permission from the Warrenton Board of Aldermen to alter the gas station’s pre-approved site development plan.
Warrenton aldermen said they were confused by MoDOT’s abrupt reversal restricting access to the gas station, but approved the revised plan to have only one entrance.
Looking long-term, Korman said the gas station parking lot will be designed to allow access from the property to the north — the property that is allowed to have the only remaining access road on that stretch of Highway 47. That neighboring property is zoned for commercial use, but is undeveloped and owned by a different development company.
“Any site plan that would get presented to you for the tract north of us, I would assume you would probably request for that to be interconnected for traffic (to the gas station),” Korman told the aldermen.
