Sheriff's Office, MDOT Weigh In On Chick-fil-A Traffic

Chick-fil-A has contracted with the Grand Traverse Sheriff's Office to "try and expedite the flow of traffic" at the restaurant chain's new US-31 location Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week, according to Sheriff Tom Bensley. With traffic frequently backing up past the Grand Traverse Mall close to the South Airport Road intersection and customers at times reporting 1-2 hour waits for food, left turn movements have been temporarily restricted at the property, meaning customers can only turn right in and right out of the business.

According to Bensley, an officer will be on-site helping direct traffic through the weekend. "We're just monitoring that (situation)," he says. "They're closed on Sundays, so we'll see how that goes for the rest of today (Friday)...and Saturday. They're going to reevaluate that and figure out if they need to do something more or less."

When Garfield Township planning commissioners approved Chick-fil-A's plans last year, the board expressed concerned about allowing customers to turn left out of the restaurant onto US-31. Township Planning Director John Sych acknowledged left turns would likely be “problematic” – particularly during peak hours, when Chick-fil-A estimates 100-plus cars can come through the drive-thru – but said the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) didn’t consider it to be “anything outside of the norm for this particular corridor.” MDOT approved Chick-fil-A's permit allowing both right and left turns from the site.

James Lake, communications representative for MDOT, says it's "too early to tell" whether the traffic issues are temporary and simply related to the restaurant's grand opening or if long-term problems could be an issue at the site. He notes MDOT staff have been on-site observing traffic, adding that there have been times of day with no backups at all. If there are persistent safety issues in the corridor, MDOT can work with Chick-fil-A on solutions for addressing those, such as permanently restricting left turns, Lake says.

Sych last year said he was working with engineering consultants and nearby property owners on possibly creating a service drive behind the property that would connect over to Lowe’s and the traffic signal at that intersection, as well as to the Grand Traverse Mall. “Once that’s developed, that will alleviate (US-31 traffic) and give people other options for ingress and egress off the site,” Sych said. As a condition of Chick-fil-A’s approval, the franchise agreed to provide an easement for the service drive and potentially participate in construction costs with other property owners. Sych could not be reached for comment Friday on the status of the service drive project. Lake says MDOT is "supportive" of plans to alleviate traffic by eventually adding an alternate access route behind the restaurant.