New Chick-fil-A in Bellevue has some fans cheering, commuters squawking



BELLEVUE -- Long lines and heavy traffic are still causing major problems around the new Chick-fil-A in Bellevue.

As officers work to keep traffic moving, drivers say this fast-food frenzy is anything but fast.

Bellevue police say for the past two weeks -- since the new fast-food joint opened -- the popular franchise has been hiring off-duty officers to help direct traffic and patrol the area.

"This level of traffic is just not sustainable," Bellevue police officer Seth Tyler said.

At this point, Tyler says all options are on the table to fix the traffic situation.

"If you're coming off 405 and you want to avoid this mess altogether, get off at NE 4th Street instead of NE 8th Street and you can completely avoid this traffic backup," Tyler said. "This is a traffic nightmare for some people ... we've seen about 60,000 cars through this intersection on any given weekday."

Bellevue police say Chick-fil-A has increased traffic there by about 10 percent -- an extra 5,000 to 6,000 cars a day.

Police say they're hoping to have a permanent traffic solution in place by next week.