No Construction Timeline Yet for Moon Walmart

The Smoke Stack owner Justin Egal said he has no qualms about a planned Moon Township Walmart moving in across the street from his business on University Boulevard.

"In retail, any traffic is good traffic," said Egal, whose tobacco and cigarette shop is off Carnot Road. "I'm just concerned with how [motorists] are going to get to the store." 

More than seven months after settling a lawsuit with the township, Walmart has announced no timeline for construction of a 150,000 square-foot retail store planned for the corner of University Boulevard and Brodhead Road. Egal said area business owners have not been in communication with the national retailer regarding the project.

"Walmart is Walmart, but I definitely have some concerns about traffic," he said. "Without a third turning lane how will it work?"

Jim Struzzi, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said Walmart has not yet obtained a highway occupancy permit, which is required for the store's construction. In 2011, PennDOT approved a traffic impact study for the proposed store. 

In September, the company submitted an application for the permit to PennDOT. Struzzi said PennDOT traffic engineers returned the application several weeks later, requesting that a series of revisions be made. He said Walmart has not yet re-submitted its application to reflect those changes.

Walmart could not be reached for comment. Struzzi said there is no tentative timeline for the permit approval process. 

"It's a back-and-forth process," he said. "It depends on when they get back to us." 

When reached earlier this year Jason N. Klipa, Walmart director of public affairs and government relations in Pennsylvania, would not comment on a timeline for the project.

"We are excited to begin serving the residents of Moon Townshi with a one-stop shopping experience," he said in an Email. 

Walmart in 2007 purchased the now vacated lot at the intersection of University Boulevard and Brodhead Road, which formerly housed the West Hills Shopping Plaza. The only building remaining at the site is the shuttered store, which has become the target of vandals in recent months. 

In June, the agreement with Walmart Stores Inc. in a 3-1 vote. The township and retail chain had been embroiled in a months-long lawsuit about rooftop and road specifications for the building. Walmart sued the township in 2010 to amend several conditions of the township's land-development plan for the project.