One by one, they are dropping like flies. Restaurants, that is. They have been deemed non-essential by our Nanny State with Spartan restrictions. and many are going out of business. One of the latest is the Wendy’s restaurant on what used to be 29 North across from Fashion Square Mall. That was before VDOT and the Never-by Passers created the 29 North Tunnel that effectively cut Wendy’s, Hardy’s and several other businesses off from 29 access, and it was too much.
To think, $64 million dollars to avoid two of Charlottesville’s 28 stoplights from the 250 By-Pass up to the airport, where the bypass would have ended? And for what?
I travel Rt. 29 constantly – have for about 50 years. It used to take me 3 ½ minutes on average, to get from Woodbrook (Lowe’s) to the stop light at Kmart. Now, even though, I can zip under the $64 million tunnel and avoid two stoplights, I always, and I mean I always, hit the light in front of and between Fashion Square Mall, and it takes at least 30 seconds for each of the other three lanes to empty. So, no time is saved whatsoever.
The only good thing VDOT did, which was needed all along, was to build a 2-lane exit from 29 N to the 250 Bypass. That really helped. The tunnel didn’t.
As for the old Wendy’s? Where’s the beef?