With back-to-school traffic and the college semester descending on Abilene again, you’ve likely encountered a neat little traffic problem in the right-turn lane at Chic-Fil-A on Southwest Drive.
If you haven’t been subjected to the traffic test at dinner time at Sud-Ouest Chic-Fil-A, count yourself lucky.
Most customers use the far right lane directly past the Southwest Drive intersection to enter the Chic-Fil-A drive-thru, which makes sense for the store’s location at the actual intersection. When the drive-thru is full, the line drains into the right lane on Southwest Drive, causing a massive traffic jam where the left and right lanes stop.
As someone who travels down Clack Street daily, I know there has to be a solution to the Chic-Fil-A conundrum. And that might not be a problem with local management – I feel more sympathy for the people who work at the drive-thru on Southwest Drive simply because of the fast lane fiasco right in front of them.
But how do you solve the problem and make the drive-thru safe again?
American drivers can help a bit by slowing down. If you want to avoid meeting Jesus himself and just want the Jesus Chicken instead, slow down.
To the city of Abilene: Public roads are a responsibility that no one wants and intersections like this make it difficult for citizens to move around the city. I’m not a civil engineer and almost failed in geometry, but a different layout of the traffic light turn lanes on Southwest Drive and Clack Street would be great.
And for the eyes of franchisees at Chic-Fil-A: Great customer experiences should include the safety of your customers. The Abilenians are lining up for Chic-Fil-A because it’s good Jesus Chicken, so we would at least appreciate a change of venue.
