Chestnut-National intersection gets facelift

The work started in January with a joint city-state effort to improve the congested intersection. More than 48,000 cars traverse the intersection daily, according to Springfield Public Works; the $2 million project will add dual left-turn lanes and improved right-turn lanes in all directions to facilitate that traffic.

Public Works Director Marc Thornsberry said the project – funded through a combination of V-cent city transportation tax funding, money from the Missouri Department of Transportation and a federal Service Transportation Program grant – is crucial to central Springfield.

“It’s a major gateway into the community,” he said. “It serves (Ozarks Technical Community College), (Missouri State University) and the downtown area, and National and Chestnut are both major arterials through the city.”

The project is scheduled for completion by fall, though he added that contractor Hartman and Associates wants to finish by August, weather permitting.

While the streets get a needed upgrade, Springfield developer Mark Gardner is preparing to redevelop one corner of the intersection to take advantage of the improved accessibility.

Gardner and his development company, G2 LLC, are awaiting rezoning approval from Springfield City Council for three acres on the northeast corner of the intersection; if approved at council’s Feb 25 meeting, the request would rezone the land for general retail use.

Gardner and Springfield Mayor Tom Carlson are the principals of development firm Carlson-Gardner Inc. However, Carlson is not involved with G2 LLC or this development.

Engineer Kevin Lowe of Olsson & Associates, which is working on the plan for the development, said the zoning would allow up to 14,000 square feet of retail space, including about 8,000 square feet for heavy drive-through uses such as a bank or drive-through restaurant.

Developer Gardner said the plan is to secure a bank tenant for about half of the available space; he said negotiations are ongoing, though he could not disclose which bank is interested in the location. He added that an announcement could be made in about 60 days, pending City Council rezoning and MoDOT approval to add a right-in, right-out entrance to the site from National.

“Unless we can get the turn lane and get the layout and approvals we need to get, it isn’t going to happen,” Gardner said. “I’m 90 percent sure it is going to happen, but it’s a 60-day process to get that done.”

Thornsberry said Gardner’s development plans, along with Craig Wagoner’s Lofts at Jordan Creek development on the southwest corner of the intersection, are evidence of the importance of investing in transportation.

“A lot of folks had things they wanted to do at that corner, and this investment that the state and the city has made in that intersection is paying off,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question that there’s a direct connection between investing in transportation and the economic impact on the community.”

Below, a rendering of the retail development shows buildings in all quadrants of the three-acre lot at National and Chestnut.

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