Action planned at Tims

Work to find a solution to help reduce the build-up in traffic for the Tim Horton's outlet on Airport Boulevard will gain steam this summer, according to the Town of Gander's director of finance.

Garry Brown and director of municipal work James Blackwood met with representatives from Tim Hortons on June 23. Mr. Brown, speaking at the June 30 council meeting, said he informed them of the Town's plans for repaving Airport Boulevard this summer.

He said Tim Hortons will be contacting the contractor for the Airport Boulevard job in order to aid planning for the implementation of its own measures to reduce congestion, which is linked to the number of cars using the drive-thru.

Cars heading west on Airport Boulevard cause further problems for vehicles looking to access the business making a left turn heading east. Backed-up traffic has also led to some drivers travelling west to manoeuvre around the line-up by moving through the left turn lane for the KFC outlet.

Traffic is known to become especially heavy when people are preparing for work and during office lunch hours.

Coun. Rob Anstey said while it is uncertain what Tim Hortons will specifically decide to do in order to reduce traffic congestion, he said they may be considering adding an additional lane at the front.

"There's a bunch of different things they might be able to do," said the chair of the public safety committee, "and where we're doing our road there, it's a good time to sit down and do the same thing.

"I've asked staff here to look at it and see how many extra cars we can get off the road. There's going to be a cost to do this, and it will be great to get the cars off the road, but we also have to remember this is a business here trying to make a living. If we do all this work to get three cars off, is that going to be worth it?"

The full details of what was discussed at the meeting between the Town and the representatives of Tim Hortons will be looked at by the public safety committee before being made public at the next council meeting, scheduled for July 21.

Coun. Anstey said he was unsure whether any plans are being made for the Tim Hortons location on the Trans Canada Highway, which has also been affected by lengthy drive-thru line-ups.

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