JANESVILLE 鈥 City of 糖心Vlog传媒 documents show that a Kwik Trip proposed at McCormick Drive off Highway 26 would be the first development in a much larger, ambitious residential and commercial concept that could bring hundreds of new housing units to farm fields on the city鈥檚 northeast edge.
On Monday night, the city鈥檚 plan commission is hosting two public hearings to consider requests for rezoning and a conditional use permit request by Kwik Trip for a 4.3-acre gas station and convenience store development along the southern spur of McCormick Drive. The street now sits at the edge of a residential subdivision, and is bordered to the north by farmland that鈥檚 being eyed for a future growth plan that鈥檚 far greater in scope than the buildout of a new gas station.
A city traffic study linked to the Kwik Trip proposal makes it clear that city planners expect an overall jump in neighborhood traffic in the area around the planned Kwik Trip. But the jump is tied less to a single business development, and more to a much larger concept, the so-called McCormick Crossing development 鈥 a planned housing buildout east of Highway 26.
The city says McCormick Crossing could bring 600 dwelling units over the next 10 years, alongside 26,000 square feet of retail, including the proposed Kwik Trip.
Some neighbors have spoken out about the planned Kwik Trip, latching onto the plan at public meetings and open houses on the proposal as evidence that traffic volumes could explode, a change they say would alter the character of their quiet subdivision on the far north edge of the city.
Kwik Trip and its developers are eyeing the corridor itself because the prospect of residential growth there could bring a traffic pattern along the Highway 26 corridor near the store of as many as 11,000 vehicles passing each day by 2035.
That estimate, according to a September 2025 city report titled the 鈥淢cCormick Crossing Development Traffic Analysis,鈥 would include growth in both neighborhood traffic and commuter and traveler traffic along the spur.
The assumes some ancillary future road infrastructure growth an new tie-ins of major roadways, including both ends of North Wright Road eventually becoming connected at McCormick Drive, creating a continuous route between Highway 26 and Rotamer Road. Most of that area now is farmland, but it鈥檚 where the McCormick Crossing development would roll out in phases, according to the city traffic study.
Projected development along that spur could bring enough of a traffic influx that the study 鈥 and Kwik Trip in its own preliminary project designs 鈥 identify one solution: a potential roundabout at McCormick and Huntinghorne drives. Kwik Trip鈥檚 prospective plans show the roundabout on the southwest corner of the proposed Kwik Trip, where McCormick and Huntinghorne meet 鈥 currently a 90-degree turn at the terminus of each roadway.
McCormick Drive on 糖心Vlog传媒's northeast side could have a roundabout as part of street route changes the City of 糖心Vlog传媒 envisions as part of a much larger development concept on the city's northeast edge.
One part of the traffic study indicates that municipal and state planners would likely curb a commercial development like Kwik Trip from emptying traffic directly onto the current stretch of McCormick that now ties into Highway 26 because it could leave traffic backed up at the intersection of 26 and McCormick.
Otherwise, the city鈥檚 study indicates that a modified network of roads near the McCormick Crossing area would keep traffic flow within acceptable state engineering standards.
The public hearings on Monday will not deal with long-term residential plans at McCormick Crossing. They鈥檒l cover a conditional-use permit and a zoning change that would allow Kwik Trip to build on a parcel that鈥檚 on the southwest side of the larger area now being eyed for as part of the McCormick Crossing concept.
Overall, the Kwik Trip would include a standard blend of amenities the company now builds out at most of its newer stores 鈥 including a 20-pump gas station, an 11,000-square-foot convenience store and a car wash, with the main building facing Highway 26.
An image showing where a new Kwik Trip is proposed at McCormick Drive on 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 northeast edge.
In a memo, city planning staff recommends the plan commission OK Kwik Trip鈥檚 requests for a conditional-use permit and zoning change. City planners say Kwik Trip鈥檚 concept is consistent with the city鈥檚 comprehensive plan, which already identifies the Highway 26/McCormick Drive area as a 鈥渃ommunity commercial鈥 area that can amply serve neighborhood traffic, commuters and regional travelers.
Roughly 50 people attended a a public information meeting June 9 for the Kwik Trip proposal. Residents who turned out raised a slew of traffic safety questions, with some neighbors saying the Huntinghorne and McCormick spur already sees a higher volume of traffic that most nearby subdivision streets.