By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
Area residents may make comments to the Missouri Department of Transportation about whether to permit another traffic signal on Range Line Road, one requested by a Midwestern supermarket chain that city leaders have said is looking to locate in Joplin.
City Council member Morris Glaze told other members at a meeting Monday night that people are being encouraged to send comments to MoDOT or to the city of Joplin regarding a request to put in a traffic signal on Range Line near 30th Street. The grocery chain wants the signal in order to complete a deal to open the store.
The property formerly was occupied by a Ford dealership.
Last week, the city received a letter from a representative of Hy-Vee Inc., saying that the company might scrap the deal because MoDOT seemed to be changing requirements on permitting a signal at the proposed site.
Rob O’Brian, president of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, said last week that a grocery chain that potentially could bring 100 full-time and 300 part-time jobs and a payroll of $6 million to $7 million was considering the site if it could come to an agreement with MoDOT on traffic controls.
Lori Marble, spokeswoman for the MoDOT District 7 office in Joplin, said last week that MoDOT was offering alternatives to installing a traffic signal on Joplin’s busiest commercial strip and was still hopeful of achieving an agreement.
On Tuesday, she said a number of people have contacted the department about the issue. “We have been receiving comments since the article (in the Globe) first appeared,” she said.
Asked how people may contact MoDOT if they want to comment, she said, “E-mails are probably the easiest,” rather than sending letters. They may be submitted to askdistrict7@modot.mo.gov.
Glaze said comments also may be sent to the city.
Lynn Onstot, public information officer for the city, said those comments may be e-mailed to lonstot@joplinmo.org. She said she will get them to the city’s engineering department.
Chain statistics
Hy-Vee officials describe the company as a full-service supermarket operation with 56,000 employees and $6.4 billion in annual sales. The company has 26 supermarkets and 12 convenience stores in Missouri.
