As cars passed smoothly, their drivers and passengers offered gestures of celebration such as fist pumping and “raising the roof.”
Columbus city officials and representatives from Chick-fil-A cut the ribbon on the newly paved road between the fast-food chicken chain and the shopping center housing stores like Old Navy and TJ Maxx.
“Several people suggested we do a ribbon cutting because they were so excited about the road opening, so we were kind of doing it in jest,” Mayor Keith Gaskin said. “But this road had been in such bad shape for so long, so we did it to celebrate the fact we finally were able to get it done for the citizens. … (People at the ribbon cutting) were joking and asking if we could name it ‘Chick-fil-A Road’ now because that’s what everyone refers to it as.”
Ironically enough, Chick-fil-A didn’t have any direct dealings with the project.
At the end of April, the city and Magnolia Place Cooper LLC, which owns the shopping center containing Old Navy, agreed to split costs for the $48,000 paving job. Both own a portion of the road, but the city has agreed to maintain the entire stretch.
The road was paved Tuesday by Murphree Paving, which Chick-fil-A franchisee Brittany Cofield said did an awesome job and is impressed with their work. While the road is still waiting on lines to be painted, the smooth blacktop is bringing in all sorts of traffic.
Skye Berquist, a full-time Chick-fil-A employee, said she has already had customers say how relieved they are for the change, and she is no different.
“Having it in a state of disrepair was greatly disruptive to the way I would come into work,” Berquist said. “… I have a very small vehicle. I have a Ford Fiesta, and those potholes can really do some damage to a small vehicle. Having it in disrepair increased the chances I would have to contribute more money to my vehicle when I already have other bills.”
There is now a sign up noting the end of city maintenance.
Chick-fil-A regular, Carl Rutherford, said he’s pleased with the newly paved road, but he is impressed with the local government as well.
“The paving will really improve the through (traffic) but also it’ll be safer,” Rutherford said. “I’m glad the city is proactive in taking over half of the road, and they didn’t just say, ‘Let’s fix the road,’ without having a plan because it went unfixed for years.”
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