AUSTINTOWN, Ohio - The Valley's newest Chick-Fil-A location in Austintown opens Thursday, March 31.

The new restaurant will be located on Mahoning Avenue near Route 46.

The parking lot will feature two entrances and exits, as well as a drive-thru with a maximum capacity of 46 cars.

The company even posted a diagram on its Facebook page to remind people how to navigate the lanes, saying that its goal is to be a "great neighbor".

Township officials will also add a traffic light between the restaurant and the new Meijer with the intention of making traffic flow into the parking lot better.

Chick-fil-A says it did a lot of planning with its support staff to create the traffic plan and also had input from the township trustees and police.

Lt. Mark Skoworn with Austintown Police said, "WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE OUT THERE ACTUALLY DIRECTING TRAFFIC, THERE'S NOT REALLY ANY REASON FOR US TO BE DOING THAT. CHICK-FIL-A HAS GOT GREAT PLANS IF YOU WATCH THEIR OPERATION YOU'LL SEE THEY HAVE A PRETTY GOOD GRIP ON LOGISTICAL MOVING OF PEOPLE AND CARS SO I REALLY THINK IT'S GOING TO GO WELL."

The restaurant will employ approximately 120 full and part-time team members.

In place of the traditional Chick-fil-A First 100® Grand Opening celebration, Chick-fil-A Austintown will be surprising 100 local heroes making an impact in Youngstown with free Chick-fil-A for a year.

Additionally, in honor of the new restaurant opening, Chick-fil-A will donate $25,000 to Feeding America.

The funds will be distributed to partners within the greater Mahoning County area to aid in the fight against hunger.

Chick-fil-A Austintown will also implement the Shared TableTM program, which will donate surplus food to the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley to feed those in need.

Last week Chick-Fil-A also announced a companywide effort that will turn the used cooking oil from its restaurants into renewable biofuel, creating over 700 million pounds of renewable diesel yearly.

That program is expected to be active at all of Chick-fil-A's 2,700 stores across the U.S.

Chick-Fil-A in Austintown will be open Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

 

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