Wednesday, October 4, 2000
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Wednesday, October 4, 2000 |
| Merchants
fighting traffic problem By MONROE
ROARK
Ask any owner of a retail establishment, no matter what products are being sold, and he or she will likely tell you that being located in a high-traffic corridor is paramount to a successful bottom line and the more traffic, the better. But if you're in the wrong spot, according to some local business owners, too much of a good thing can be rough. A small building facing Ga. Highway 85 in the heart of Fayetteville would ordinarily be a merchant's dream. But facing East Georgia Avenue has in recent years turned into something less. Two businesses occupying this building Gourmet's Delight deli and The Herb Shop have noticed the effects of daily rush-hour traffic, along with the throng of students emptying from a high school nearby, scores of customers fighting to get on East Georgia Avenue each day to go to the post office or just slip over to Jeff Davis Road, and giant trucks coming and going from Walker Concrete, whose entrance is right next to their building. They are convinced that business is being literally driven away because of these factors, and they are trying to do something about it. "We have more and more customers saying they'd come to eat, but they can't because they can't get in and out," said Linda Wallace, co-owner of Gourmet's Delight. Now in its 20th year in Fayette County, the restaurant has been located in its present spot for 16 of those years. Wallace said that there have been numerous pleas during that time for a traffic light at the intersection in front of her store, but to no avail. "The city hasn't responded, but I understand it's not totally up to them since it's a state highway," she said. As for the state, she has been told that one of the criteria for traffic light installation on a highway is a minimum number of fatalities. State officials have also said that a light at that location would tie up traffic more than it would keep it flowing, but Wallace disagrees, citing other places in the city where large new developments spawned traffic lights that have improved the situation. "This is a critical area," she said of her intersection. "It has gotten so bad." Next door at The Herb Shop, there has been talk of moving to another location, but an employee said Tuesday that the owner has decided to stay a while longer and see if things get better. Both merchants have placed petitions on their counters asking for support for a traffic light. Both have recorded dozens of signatures in the past few weeks. "Nearly everybody that walks in this door signs that petition," Wallace reported. The petitions were the idea of Walter Graves, the owner of the building. He said that when he bought it in 1974, Hwy. 85 was a two-lane road. That's far from the case now. "With the fast traffic on 85, turn lane used as a third lane, the post office something needs to be done," Wallace said.
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