NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — The owners of a local restaurant that has been around for almost 70 years say they will have to shut down because of a Department of Transportation project.
Henderson’s in Covington says the planned changes to a busy intersection will make it nearly impossible for them to stay in business.
“This is all I’ve ever done. I've never done anything else,” Cassandra Henderson said.
She started waiting tables at Henderson’s restaurant in Covington when she was 14 years old. She never left.
“I grew up. My children grew up here, my nieces and nephews, everybody. It's a long-running family business and that's what's making it so upsetting,” she said.
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The restaurant, which opened in 1956, is located at the intersection of State Route 36 and Flat Shoals Road. Right now, it’s a five-way intersection, and Georgia Department of Transportation wants to make it a safer, four-way stop.
The nearly $2 million traffic improvement includes adding traffic signals on State Route 36, and Steele and Flat Shoals roads will be realigned. State Route 36 will also be widened, with 12-foot left and right turn lanes that will go directly in front of Henderson's. %
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The restaurant says the new right of way will be about a foot away from the front patio, essentially wiping out its parking area.
Henderson says they’ve been working with the county for years to stay in their current location, but then the project got passed off to the state and they say DOT hasn’t worked with them.
“It's upsetting because we don't feel like they have tried to work with us as far helping us with parking any more than we have,” she said.
A DOT spokesman said they have tried for years to improve operations without affecting the business and it’s “an unfortunate situation.”
The project will be complete a year from now.
The family also owns the Henderson's Grocery Store across the street and they say that will remain open.
Cox Media Group
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