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Possible road changes along South Broadway concern business owners

Some business owners along South Broadway Avenue are concerned about how possible road changes might impact their businesses.

TYLER — "It's been a really good move," says Peyton Lilly, who runs Sister2Sister Baked Goods on South Broadway Avenue.

Four months ago, the bakery relocated from one end of South Broadway Avenue to another.

"We see a lot of new faces coming in off Broadway."

So far, business has been sweet, except for of one complaint.

"We do get a lot of comments about how bad the traffic is on Broadway, trying to get around the number of cars and the medians in the roads, having to do U-turns at a lot of locations along Broadway."

It's a similar story at Palio's Pizza Cafe, located just across the road.

"It can be very hard for people to get all the way down of south Broadway, especially if you're working downtown or even off of the loop 323,” says Kalob Martinez, who manages the pizza café.

Both businesses are in the middle of the five-mile stretch that's considered the most congested road in Smith County.

TxDOT reports traffic is delayed for about 275,000 hours each year during peak hours, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The agency is currently exploring different ways to fix the congestion. TxDOT is considering widening the road to eight lanes or installing intersections with ramps and overpasses. But the idea of a large project causes concern.

"If they're widening lanes or bringing the road closer to our parking lot, how much of our parking lot are we still going to have," asks Martinez.

"Just last week, there was some construction going on at Robert E. Lee Drive, and that slowed things down for people trying to get in and out,” says Lilly. “So, I can only assume how much worse it'll be once it starts on Broadway."

The last big project for the city was the addition of medians along South Broadway Avenue, which brought heavy construction to the area. Some businesses saw a decrease in sales, others were forced to close shop. There's a fear that could happen again once construction starts along the corridor.

"I'm worried about when it starts to hit in front of our business, how is that going to affect our business," says Lilly.

TxDOT held an open house Tuesday, where the business owners and community members could voice add to the vision of plans for South Broadway Avenue. The event included interactive maps that displayed possible options and survey sections for people to give feedback. Also, there was a Google Maps display area where people who focus in on a specific area of interest to them. TxDOT team members and city representatives were present throughout the night for one-on-one conversations with those who attended. TxDOT says Tuesday's public event is one of the initial steps in what's expected to be a long process.

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