ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Less than 24 hours before the Brighton Whole Foods is scheduled to open, a judge will be hearing arguments to keep it closed.
One of the main arguments against opening the Whole Foods is concern over the increase in traffic on Monroe Avenue.
When the project was first announced in 2018, this issue of traffic was at the forefront for Brighton and Pittsford residents, according to Brighton police.
Monroe Avenue and it’s intersection with Clover Street are incredibly busy during peak times, but this is something Brighton Town Supervisor Bill Moehle has been aware of since the plans began more than five years ago.
He previously told News 8 that their analysis revealed that during the busiest times, only 40 seconds would be added to drive time.
That information was obtained through the town’s lengthy traffic impacts study, which looked at 15 different intersections in and around the plaza, and returned to those intersections repeatedly over the course of about four years.
As part of the Whole Foods Plaza’s construction, extra stop lights were added to two entrance and exit points. Those and all the traffic signals along that stretch of Monroe Avenue have been coordinated in anticipation of the influx, according to the study.
Many of the businesses in the plaza are already open, including a new Starbucks, meaning that residents have gotten practice in with these new lights.
At peak afternoon traffic times, the study does show some level of congestion for certain intersections.
For example, those heading east on Monroe Avenue at Clover Street may get backed up so far that they temporarily block one of the driveways on that road. For those heading east on Monroe Ave. and trying to get on I-590 north, the cars may back up the entire stretch of available road.
But literally 95% of the time, “the queues will be shorter than those,” the final findings document reads.
For the grand opening, Brighton Police Department’s Deputy Chief Michael DeSain says that they will have officers present to help direct traffic. If they need to step in, DeSain said the stoplights are key to their plan.
“You have a traffic intersection controlled by a light to the western part of the whole foods plaza, and you have on the eastern front of the plaza,” DeSain said. “We would determine at what time we would shut one of them and allow one way in and one way out […] if it’s even going to be necessary for us to get involved with the traffic control.”
The developer of the plaza, Danny Daniele, added that Whole Foods will have their own teams there to help with security and parking, too.
Parking in front of the other businesses in the plaza will be allowed. Whole Foods said they stand by their 7 a.m. opening on Wednesday.
