LYNNWOOD, Wash. - For police, it is a traffic test. The opening of a new Chick-fil-A could crowd the commute along 196th Street SW in Lynnwood.
The chain recently moved into Western Washington with two other locations in Bellevue and Tacoma. Lacey Hein has visited both stores.
"We live in Bellevue so we have seen how they have had to adjust the traffic patterns. They've had to put up signs, hire off-duty officers," said Hein. "I was in Tacoma last weekend and thought, 'Oh we will just stop by.' The line wrapped around the building."
Sgt. David Harris with Lynnwood police has been involved in the planning process for the last month.
"We've been in contact with Tacoma police as well as Bellevue police and tried to do a 'lessons learned' if you will," said Sgt. Harris.
The city of Bellevue racked up nearly 300 officer overtime hours in about two weeks' time. That totaled more than $23,000. It is a tab Chick-fil-A is paying for as the company has agreed to hire off-duty officers for traffic control.
"We are hoping that the way we have things set up, traffic is going to flow very smoothly," said Sgt. Harris.
The Lynnwood location opens Thursday.
