EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
Most of us are all too familiar with the on-going construction at Green River Road and Lincoln Avenue, but one business there says all that stopped traffic is stopping some of his business.
It's tough enough for any business to sustain a steady sales rate in today's economic climate, but one local business says they never knew traffic would play such a large role in the amount of customers they receive, and they say that is now the reality of the situation.
J.B. Simmons owns Shyler's Barbecue on South Green River Road, a location he says has been great for the restaurant that is until construction started on the Green River-Lincoln intersection.
"It's really hurting our sales, because the traffic is on our side of the road and it backs up, and people can't get in and out," said Simmons.
Simmons says he regularly sees cars backed up as far as the Lloyd Expressway. Not wanting to be a part of a traffic jam, Simmons fears people are trying to avoid this stretch of road altogether, therefore, bypassing his restaurant. A sharp sales decrease since construction began, justifies that notion.
"Yeah, our sales are still down. I mean, they're going to be down just because of the construction. But it doesn't need to be, of course, backed up to the Lloyd," said Simmons.
Simmons says he recently measured the amount of time the intersection's lights stay green. To his surprise, he says he noticed that the light on the lesser-travelled Lincoln Avenue remained green longer than the light on the heavily-trafficked Green River Road.
"I got a stopwatch, you know, and I just timed it. You know, and on Friday, it was 50 seconds on Green River, 50 on Lincoln. Today, it's 38 seconds on Green River, and 50 on Lincoln," said Simmons.
'No Left Turn' signs have been posted in an effort to improve traffic flow, but Simmons hopes more will be done, so that this scene will become less common on Green River Road.
"I would just like to see the city, you know, take into consideration what's happening on Green River Road, adjust the times, so traffic will flow during this construction. There's no sense backing this thing up like this," said Simmons.
'No Left Turn' signs are posted at that intersection, though we have had reports that drivers have been ignoring them and backing up traffic even further. Any further traffic improvements remain to be seen.
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