Crime & Safety

Popeyes Causing Havoc on Highway 5

After being open for about a week, cars in line for the Popeyes drive-thru are stretching across the parking lot and disrupting traffic on Highway 5.

The buzz about the began weeks ago when the finishing touches were being applied to the building and the opening was clearly on the horizon. Located in what was already a high traffic area, at the corner of Highway 5 and Douglas Boulevard, the popularity of the restaurant is disrupting traffic on Highway 5.

In an article marking the opening of the restaurant, on March 13, the Douglas County Sentinel noted, "By 3:30 in the afternoon the drive-thru line was so long it blocked traffic on Highway 5 and there wasn't a free table in the place. A man in an orange vest was trying to clear up traffic outside, the patrons apparently deciding any wait was worth it for a taste of some delicious chicken."

Things have not changed much in the past week. Those driving by the restaurant cannot miss the car that is stationed daily in front with flashing blue lights.

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The police officer's job is to keep traffic moving, Police Chief Chris Womack said. "On Monday and Tuesday when they opened, my phone was blowing up," he said. "Traffic was backed up all the way to the northside of the bridge (on Highway 5), past Interstate 20. We can't have that. It's a safety hazard.

"We went over there and met with them and told them they needed to hire an off-duty police officer," Womack said. "We can't have gridlock there."

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The flashing lights are on to keep the officer safe, Womack said.

"The lights warn drivers that there's something going on and they should be alert. Then they have to pay attention to where they are being directed," he said.

Sgt. T. Garner was the officer who volunteered for the duty on Monday. He said he was so busy that he only had about a thirty minute break between noon, when he began, and 5 p.m., when Douglasville Patch interviewed him on the scene.

On Monday, there was also a Popeyes security guard present, in that same orange vest, still directing traffic. He told Patch to get off of the property and not take photos.

Counting the car stopped at the ordering menu, there is approximately enough space for nine cars to line up through the parking lot. The tenth car is usually parked partially in the parking lot and partially on Highway 5.

Garner said he was directing the overflow traffic around the block to park and walk into the restaurant. He said many drivers would simply drive around and get back in line.

“We’re doing our best to manage the overwhelming customer response; that’s why we hired the additional help from local police," Victor Haydel said in an email, president of 755 Restaurant Corporation. "In an attempt to alleviate the traffic problem, the officers are rerouting drive-thru traffic through the main parking lot entrance into the back entrance of our parking lot. This solution solves the traffic problem. We’ll keep contracting the off-duty officers as long as this issue persists.”

The City of Douglasville Planning and Zoning Committee has approved the construction of another Popeyes on Highway 92, according to another Sentinel article.

At least one council member was concerned there would be a similar problem at the new location, the article said.

"Are we going to have any spill out to (Highway) 92," Mayor Pro Tem Larry Yockey said in the article. "That's what we're having on Highway 5 right now. They're lining up all the way down to the corner." 


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