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Today's Poll: Should Town of Batavia approve Tim Horton's for West Main and Lewiston?

By Howard B. Owens
Kurt Schwab

Those of you who voted "Yes" apparently don't live on Colonial Blvd. Everyone knows there are major traffic problems in the area, with numerous accidents, especially near McDonalds and the Tops/Rite Aid area. So, yeah...go ahead and create an uncontrolled shortcut between those two points and add thousand or so cars a day through there and see what happens. Better yet, let's add a couple more un-synchronized lights in the area to further impede traffic flow.

May 9, 2013, 9:29am Permalink
Jason Post

The quality of their coffee is not an issue for the Town of Batavia's opinion to carry any weight on. The fact that they already have a store in town isn't their issue either. If Tim Horton's thinks they can financially support a coffee shop on every street corner in the city that should be between them and the people that currently own those street corners. In a free market economy, Batavia's opinions on those matters are irrelevant.

The intersection is a somewhat different matter. That is a crazy mash-up of roadways which could do with some improvement before traffic volume gets increased notably.

May 9, 2013, 9:36am Permalink
Karlie Jones-Laffosse

People who drive into Batavia on rts. 5 and 63 all have a general distaste for driving through that particular intersection. Dont make traffic flow uglier than it already is!

May 9, 2013, 9:50am Permalink
Doug Yeomans

Tim Horton's coffee is pretty damn good IMO. McDonald's coffee is probably even better, though. One brand of coffee I cannot choke down is Starbucks..blech. I don't have a problem with any business that wants to come into Batavia and create jobs as long as I don't have to subsidize it with tax dollars. I think the traffic problem with that intersection and locating a Tim's there is a valid argument against building in that spot.

May 9, 2013, 10:10am Permalink
Dave Olsen

I agree with everything you wrote Doug. I voted no, because I don't understand why it has to be there. There's plenty of empty space west on Rt.5 and north on 63. Makes me wonder who owns that particular location and why it was chosen. I can't see how , say taking up part of the usually empty K-Mart parking lot wouldn't attract as many if not more customers with far less traffic issues. The main problem BTW with the Main & Lewiston intersection In my humble opinion is from westbound main onto northbound lewiston, people come around there and accelerate, that needs to be addressed. But, if they open Tim's there, I'll probably visit it, and I'll be very careful pulling out. I don't see it as a very big problem either way.

May 9, 2013, 10:33am Permalink
Bob Heininger

Last time I was at Dunkin Donuts they had trouble finding the Green tea. Tim Horton's has Earl Grey, Green, English Breakfast, and other popular teas out in plain sight. Plus, it's still hot when I get to work in Rochester. Yay.

Tim Horton's wins!

Coffee from anywhere including my wife's own coffee pot? Bluegh!

May 9, 2013, 12:38pm Permalink
John Stone

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions...
As to mine:
Horton's is one of the best coffees on the planet. LOVE that DARK roast! (They come just shy of burning them, and that's why it's so good!) Many people say they think it's been sitting on the burner too long and has scorched... NOT the case.
Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts use a light and medium roast. Many folks prefer that, but to me, it's like trying to eat unripened fruit. (Blech!)
Oh... coffee is supposed to be HOT. The hotter the better... It simply requires the customer use enough common-sense to keep from burning themselves... If you have a problem with HOT coffee, you might want to stick with things that you have the capability to wrap your brain around... It doesn't take many brain cells to understand that 'hot' means you can burn yourself if you don't apply a minimal amount of wisdom...
A store there really isn't going to impact traffic much. The traffic there is already terrible, but that is mostly due to the traffic-flow pattern that city planners actively created:
Someone decided, quite a while ago, that the best thing for the Batavia economy is to have every vehicle stop at almost every intersection. The reasoning behind that is because they thought (think?) that when folks are stopped, they will look around and notice businesses. That notice is supposed to make people want to go in them. What they have consistently failed to understand is the FACT that once a driver has hit 4 or 5 red-lights in a row, said driver has decided that the only reasonable plan is to get the h*ll OUT of this little 'burg' as rapidly as possibly, then avoid going through it ever again!!!

May 9, 2013, 12:56pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

"Why Tim Hortons why not a Dunkin Donuts WITH A DRIVE THRU!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Um, because Tim Horton's wants to open in that location there and Dunkin' Donuts doesn't (at least there's been no expression of interest from Dunkin' Donuts).

I'd suggest you open your own Dunkin' Donuts with a drive-thru, but the company is apparently not accepting new franchisees in any New York market.

http://www.dunkinfranchising.com/franchisee/en/whatsavailable.html#avai…

May 9, 2013, 2:03pm Permalink

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