Council Debates Possible Traffic Issues from New Virtual Care Center

As work finally started on one big development in Chesterfield, council members were debating traffic concerns relating to another major project in the city, the construction of a “virtual care” center for Mercy Health Systems.

The $90 million facility is said to be the first of its kind in the nation and will allow even complex operations, such as surgeries, to be performed remotely. It will be located an 43-acre area off Chesterfield Parkway south of Highway 40 and east of Clarkson Road. 

The current plan calls for most traffic to be routed through a new public road that will go through the campus and link up to Chesterfield Parkway East between Schoettler Valley Drive and Elbridge Payne Road.

A signalized intersection is proposed for that spot, but council member Dan Hurt said future councils may want to consider moving it.

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He proposed an amendment, which eventually failed by a vote of 3-5, that would have inserted language in the ordinance governing the development officially placing the developer “on notice” that the city could re-visit the proposed set up at that time.

“[This amendment] doesn’t mean anything is going to change, it just says that we take a look at this intersection if they buy the property to the east,” he said, referring to the Schoettler Village Apartments.

Hurt said his concern was that any possible future expansion of the facility by Mercy may add too many access points, or “curb cuts,” to the development.

“We have always tried to compress those exit points as best we could,” he said.

Planning for the Future

Council members opposed to the amendment noted that any such purchase would require the property be rezoned, so a future council would have to review it anyway. Council member Derek Grier said Hurt’s amendment seemed redundant.

It was also criticized for placing on unfair restriction on Mercy, who had designed the 950,000 square foot development with that intersection in mind. Parking garages for employees will likely be located nearby.

Lawyers representing the non-profit were present at the meeting and said Mercy would be concerned "by any language that says we will take signalized intersection into a right in/right out where have a parking garage."

They also noted that the company had no plans to purchase the property referred to by Hurt.

Council member Connie Fults said she “liked the signal,” noting that it is designed intended to keep traffic off of residential streets, such as Schoettler Valley Drive.

Hurt and council member Barry Flachsbart responded that the goal was not to merely give notice that the intersection may be changed in the future but not mandate any specific course of action.

Competing Interests at Play

Chesterfield Planning and Public Works Director Michael Giesel said the debate among the council member reflected tension between two concerns.

“I think it’s the competing interests of minimizing curb cuts versus distributing the traffic,” he said. “It’s a question of how that should be managed.”

On one hand, if there are more places for people to enter or exit, it prevents traffic from being funneled through one or two streets. In this case, the concern is that it could make people cut through residential areas.

However, if you have too many access points, traffic may be more evenly distributed, but you can end up creating a chaotic situation. Geisel pointed to the situation on Manchester Road, an area in which almost every business has its own direct in/out.

“It creates conflict, tension and accidents,” he said.