Franchise owner Travis Collins stands in front of the Chick-fil-A restaurant on upper State Street in Santa Barbara.
Franchise owner Travis Collins stands in front of the Chick-fil-A restaurant on upper State Street in Santa Barbara. The restaurant will close for 8-10 weeks beginning Saturday at noon to reconfigure a portion of its entrance and exit to reduce the possibility of cars backing out onto the street. Credit: Joshua Molina / Noozhawk photo

The Chick-fil-A restaurant on upper State Street in Santa Barbara will close for 8-10 weeks beginning this Saturday at noon to reconfigure a portion of its entrance and exit to reduce the possibility of cars backing out onto the street.

“It’s been a long road to get to this point, and we are glad that we are here crossing this bridge together,” said franchise owner Travis Collins. “We’re hopeful that not only will we create a greater experience for our community, but our neighbors, our guests and team members, too.”

Chick-fil-A, at 3707 State St., plans to relocate four handicapped parking spaces and widen the entrance to the restaurant to three formal lanes.

The handicapped spaces will move to the other side of the building, while the exit will be reconfigured to eliminate any possibility of people making a left turn out of the parking lot.

Even though there’s a sign that says “no left turn,” customers sometimes turn left.

Chick-fil-A came under fire from some neighborhood residents and city officials because the restaurant was so popular that cars queued out onto State Street, forcing motorists to switch lanes, and pedestrians and bicyclists to move around the cars.

In response, the city of Santa Barbara threatened to revoke its drive-thru unless Chick-fil-A was able to stop the cars from spilling out onto the street.

Chick-fil-A responded by dispatching a team of employees to manage the drive-thru and move traffic through quickly.

Artist's rendition of the Chick-fil-A restaurant on State Street in Santa Barbara after changes are made to its entrance and exit to reduce the possibility of cars backing out onto the street.
Artist’s rendition of the Chick-fil-A restaurant on State Street in Santa Barbara after changes are made to its entrance and exit to reduce the possibility of cars backing out onto the street. Credit: Contributed image

The queuing out onto the street has improved dramatically, according to city officials.

“The complaints have gone to effectively zero, and before I was getting a few every day or every other day,” said Councilman Eric Friedman. “It’s nothing like it used to be.”

The restaurant serves between 1,700 and 2,200 customers a day, Collins said.

Friedman said that the temporary closure shows Chick-fil-A is finishing what it started.

“This is exactly the outcome we hoped to achieve, that they would make permanent changes on the traffic configuration,” Friedman said. “This is what we wanted them to do.”

Chick-fil-A opened 10 years ago, and replaced Burger King. Collins, a Santa Barbara resident, has owned the franchise for three years.

“I am grateful for how the city has worked with us and the team around us,” Collins said. “I love what I do, and getting to serve our team and care for our staff.”

A second Chick-fil-A restaurant is set to open on Calle Real near Starbucks in the Eastern Goleta Valley, at the previous IHOP site, but that project is still working its way through the planning process.

— Noozhawk South County editor Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.