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New Stoplight at Cracker Barrel & Publix Expected To Go Live Third Week in October

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Employees with Haynes Electric Construction work on the signal installation at the new intersection for the Publix grocery store that is under construction. It also accesses the Cracker Barrel across the street and the neighboring Post Office. Photo by Jesse Wood

By Jesse Wood

The construction of the new intersection that accesses the Publix Super Markets under construction, the Cracker Barrel and the Post Office is complete, but the installation signal won’t become operation until likely the third weekend in October, according to Doug Eller, Division 11 Resident Engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Eller added that crews are currently working on the signal installation.

Construction on this intersection began in July after the NCDOT issued a driveway access permit for the Publix Super Markets development, which is located at the old Kmart property on U.S. 321 in Boone.

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The Publix Super Markets grocery store and pharmacy is under construction.

See what this area used to looked like here. 

Publix published the 6.5-acre property in November 2014 for $10.5 million. That was a cool $3.5 profit for the development group that bought the old Kmart property for nearly $7 million in the summer of 2014, when Kmart closed down for good.

The demolition of the old retail store began in April. Demolition is complete, and the foundation of the site is currently being constructed.

The new Publix Super Markets store in Boone, which is proposed to open sometime in 2017, will be about 49,000 square feet in size and feature a drive thru Publix pharmacy. The parking lot will accommodate 250 vehicles, according to plans submitted to the Boone Planning and Inspections department.

The redevelopment is estimated to cost $9 million.

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