Detour drivers cause headaches for north Jackson business owners
JACKSON, Tenn. — A road closure in north Jackson has business owners concerned, but it is not because of loss of business. They say drivers are ignoring closure signs and ending up driving erratically in their parking lots. Although it has been three weeks since part of Carriage House Drive was closed for construction, business owners said more cars than ever are blatantly ignoring detour and closure signs and trying to get around them by cutting through their parking lots. “Seventy-five percent of the traffic that comes through here, they have just ignored the signs and come here to turn around,” business owner Charles Byrd said. The parade of vehicles, dozens per hour, try to bypass the closure but are met with a dead end. “We’ve had some vehicles come through pretty quickly that had to slam on their brakes before they hit the building next door,” Byrd said. Since the road has been closed for construction, business owners said the unwanted traffic has caused jam-ups and even a few accidents. “I really didn’t think it would hurt our business,” Byrd said. “But I did not anticipate all the traffic coming through. That’s the main thing.” Business owners said besides people driving erratically through their parking lots to try to get around the detour, some have taken it a step further by removing orange barrels to get around them. “We have people moving the barricade and just driving on through,” Bryd said. “Sure enough, if they damage their vehicle I’m sure they’ll blame the city for it.” The big question — why are drivers even making it this far? “We’re not paying attention because the signs are too small,” driver Tavarious Fuller said. “I mean there needs to be more signs or bigger signs and maybe we won’t come all the way down here.” But with a detour clearly posted all the way down the street, business owners said they hope people will look a little closer. “There are so many signs between Highland Avenue and here telling people there’s a detour, that there’s a road closed,” Bryd said. “They just ignore them all.” The road closure and construction is due to workers replacing broken culverts. The city’s street department has not given a timeline on when it may re-open.
