Scroll down 👇 to see the proposed solutions and illustrations.Â
A member of the Bryant Planning Commission is pushing for a plan to relieve traffic congestion in the area of Chick-Fil-A and Lowe’s Home Improvement. Walter Burgess, Vice Chairman of the Bryant Planning Commission will present his plan on Monday, April 11th to the Commission. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.
Burgess will offer some possible solutions to the issue. The area is off Reynolds Road, where it meets with the unnamed street between Chick-Fil-A and Centennial Bank. See the map below.
Scroll down 👇 to see the proposed solutions and illustrations.Â
Burgess said in a statement that he has spoken to stakeholders in the area and many agreed that improvement is needed and are willing to participate in a constructive conversation about a solution. Businesses in favor are representatives of Chick-Fil-A, Centennial Bank, and Lowe’s. Bryant officials in favor are Mayor Allen Scott, Director of Planning, Truett Smith, and Chief of Police Carl Minden.
Burgess said a traffic engineer from Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) stated that “it isn’t hugely challenging to improve this intersection.” He said Bryant can use the Special Permit process that was used to install new traffic light at Bryant Parkway and Highway 5 North.
The following are two possible solutions that Burgess will be presenting at Monday night’s meeting – in the words of Burgess:
Proposal #1
Traffic often backs up at the first entrance to Chick-Fil-A due to cars turning left into the parking lot of the restaurant. I propose to add an additional lane of traffic on the Centennial Bank side of the road (shaded in green in illustration). This additional lane would allow cars to move around the cars waiting to turn left. This lane could extend a short distance past the Chick-Fil-A entrance or it could extend the entire length of the Centennial Bank property.
A “No Right Turn on Red” sign could be added to Northbound Reynolds Road to halt the traffic turning right into Lowe’s (while traffic is coming Southbound). A curved dotted line could be added to the pavement within the intersection to guide southbound traffic to turn into the correct lane.
Anticipated issues: ARDOT Approval, approval of Chick-Fil-A, approval of Centennial Bank, traffic light realignment, funding.
Proposal #2:
The innermost turn lane direction could be reversed. This would provide two inbound lanes and allow traffic to flow around cars turning left into Chick-Fil-A. The innermost lane could accommodate several stacking cars.
Anticipated issues: Pavement width, ARDOT Approval, approval of Chick-Fil-A, approval of Centennial Bank, traffic light realignmentÂ
While Burgess has put this item on the Planning Commission agenda, this is an informal discussion. No formal motion is on the table. While all Planning Commission meetings are open and the public is welcome, this is not a formal public hearing, but rather, it will be a discussion among Commissioners.
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I believe the Governor or the chairman over the department of transportation should have to personally approve every chick-fil-a in the state.
The ONLY location I have seen that does not cause a traffic nuisance is the location at Otter Creek.
Love the food, the service, hate the blight of traffic they bring wherever they go, and the lackadaisical approach of local city planners in not having the foresight to anticipate traffic flow issues. Bryant has lost thousands of dollars of tax revenue from this Benton resident, because I avoid the entire frontage road / reynolds road interchange on account of just chick-fil-a being there.
The issue is the short distance to the entry of Chic-Fila from Reynolds road. It doesn’t matter how many turn lanes there are to their first entrance. The cars still have to cross traffic leaving Lowe’s that causes backs up at the red light.. The entrance needs to be at the back of CF and the exit at the front
I agree. The front of CFA should be exit only, and traffic needs to circle the building to enter.
I believe biggest problem is the short distance from Reynolds Rd to the entrance of Chick-Fil-A. Bryant should give serious considerations to changing the entrance to the furthest east entrance as well as add an extra lane around to allow non Chick-Fil-A traffic to continue into the Lowes parking lot. This would allow more traffic into the restaurant and less traffic backed up onto Reynolds Rd.
This doesn’t help the cars trying to turn into Chick Fil A and the line extending out into Reynolds road. Most are trying to turn, not go straight towards Lowes. There will still be a backup. There just isn’t enough room from the intersection to the Chick-fil-A entrance. It will help, but not solve the issue.