Is There A Traffic Fix For Colonie Chick-fil-A To Be Built?

It looks as if there is a solution to the high traffic volume if a Chick-fil-A is built in Colonie. Could that area be finally getting the popular chicken fast food restaurant?

There has been a plan to build a Chick-fil-A in a busy section of Colonie near Latham Farms for three years. The main reason for the hold-up has been the traffic flow in that already congested area.

The solution is to build a roundabout near the entrance to Dick's House of Sport on Erin Road which is an access road to Latham Farms, away from the proposed Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A wants to build a five thousand-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru on the former site of Brick House on Troy-Schenectady Road.

According to the Times Union, a letter sent to the planning board stated that the owner of Latham Farms has accepted the idea of a roundabout. Planning board chairman and consulting engineer, Timothy Freitag said,

This roundabout is important to provide a turnaround area for vehicles trying to exit back onto Troy-Schenectady Road since the left turn onto Erin Street from the project site will be removed with a right turn only. Erin Street is a short, town-owned road that serves as the main entrance/exit to Latham Farms from Troy-Schenectady Road.

The drive-thru, which usually makes up 60% to 70% of Chick-fil-A's sales, is likely to cause traffic jams, with cars possibly backing up onto Erin Street and making it hard for drivers to turn left.

To fix this, the Colonie Planning Board is looking at adding the roundabout, but they might ask for more traffic studies before giving the project the green light. The town is trying to limit any negative effects on the area to move the project forward.