It's Starting (A Walmart Update)

Over the past week or so, we've watched a chain link fence be installed around the Walmart property and a construction trailer has moved in.  We've heard demolition will begin in the next few days and last for about 5-6 months.  Luckily, demo should take place between 7 am - 7 pm Monday through Friday, which seems reasonable.  Then construction should begin January 2013 and be completed within a year.  We're hoping they do some pest control prior to starting demolition so we don't get an influx of critters into our neighborhood. 

We've also gotten an update on a few changes to the design of the store. 

First off, Walmart has purchased the property at the corner of Wayside and Hwy 45 so 1) they have increased the size of the building from 150,000 sq. ft. to 180,000 sq. ft., 2) the building/ parking lot has been shifted to the west a bit (away from our neighborhood), and 3) there will now be two entrances off of the Hwy 45 feeder instead of just one.  (We're still waiting to hear the results from the traffic study.)

The elevation perspective doesn't look too bad.  It looks like they've tried to make some visual improvements to the front of the store (vs. it being just a big plain box.)  The garden center and auto center have also been moved to our side of the store. 

We've been told that they are going to try to keep most of the existing trees and are consulting with an arborist to see if any need to be removed (due to damage caused by the drought or prior hurricanes.)  At the most narrow point, we will have a 61 foot buffer between the neighborhood and the parking lot.

We're not as concerned with traffic from trucks as they should be using Maxwell Lane for deliveries.  Because of this, they will be making some improvements to the quality of that street. 

A couple things still remain up in the air, like whether they are going to hire security or whether they are going to be able to sale alcohol. 

Overall, it doesn't look that bad.  Yes, there will be more traffic.  And yes, it will probably be more noisy.  We've been thinking about planting a few more trees in our front yard to help buffer some of the freeway noise anyways. 

I think it will be very convenient.  H-E-B is less than 2 miles away from us now, but that keeps us from making frequent grocery trips.  Maybe being within walking distance of groceries will give us more of a reason to cook at home.  Also, we can avoid taking our cars all the way over to Shepherd for oil changes.