Lincoln likely to review Wal-Mart plan June 18

LINCOLN – The state Department of Environmental Protection is reviewing Wal-Mart’s proposed $2.07 million 24-hour Supercenter for West Broadway and will probably render a decision on it by June 18, when Lincoln’s planning board is due to take up the matter, town officials said Wednesday.

“Wal-Mart believes it will have a DEP decision by then,” Ruth Birtz, the town economic development assistant, said Wednesday.

Wal-Mart’s plan calls for tearing down the existing structure and creating a 99,000-square-foot building, including an expanded retail area and a full-service grocery store, in its place on about 21 acres at the store’s present location.

The project includes a lot of 316 parking spaces, an access road and a recycling center, according to the plans Wal-Mart submitted to DEP.

The company must seek permits with the state Department of Environmental Protection, state Department of Transportation and the planning board. About 175 full- and part-time jobs will be created with the new store, store officials have said.

If the project is approved, construction could begin this summer, with opening occurring by the end of the year. No cost estimates are available.

The existing store employs 107 full- and part-time workers. No other retailers are part of the expansion.

Also known as Route 6, West Broadway is a state road, and Wal-Mart does not anticipate the expansion generating significant traffic problems. The company will pay for road changes to ease traffic at the new site, including a traffic study a year after the store opens to determine whether additional traffic lights are needed on the road.

Wal-Mart’s expansion is among several factors stimulating interest in Lincoln among other “big box” retailers, Town Manager Glenn Aho said.

Aho and Birtz declined to identify the retailers with whom they have spoken.