Warm weather has people lining up for their favorite ice cream in Brunswick, residents

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A 19 News safety alert as a busy road is made even busier by a popular business whose sales heat up along with the weather.

But there are new concerns that construction on Pearl Road in Brunswick, along with the additional traffic at Honey Hut Ice Cream could pose a dangerous traffic problem.

As our 19 News camera captured an accident as it happened just before 6:00 PM on Thursday. One car slammed into another right in front of Honey Hut Ice Cream on Pearl Road.

In this case, there appeared to be no connection to ice cream cones or orange cones and construction barrels that were clearly visible on the other side of the road, in the high volume traffic area. So, on hot nights when people want ice cream at their favorite hot spot, resident Kevin McCormack says the traffic back-up can become dangerous, “On the Summer nights the traffic backs up 10 to 15 cars on the main road, and a lot of people try taking a left when they get out of here.”

Drivers attempting to make a left turn when exiting Honey Hut’s drive-thru could cause an even further back-up of traffic.

Drew Foster lives right down the road, “The line (of cars) will extend into the street and you could end up waiting 30 minutes for your ice cream.”

Another major concern, when drivers are caught up in the back-up and try to pass the line of cars on the single-lane stretch of road with only a middle turn lane, “I think the city should do something about it, and create and an extra turn lane,” McCormack said.

One more possible solution is traffic exiting the drive-thru should only be able to turn right onto Pearl Road and Foster believes another exit could make a real difference, “Maybe create a second outlet from their parking lot out of the drive-thru. I think that would really benefit not only the company, but the city as well.”

Sources say Brunswick Police are aware of the concerns and are looking into it because so many people are willing to wait in line for good ice cream, but not if it leads to accidents and safety concerns.

The owners at Honey Hut were not available to talk on short notice but would be willing to talk at another time.

19 News did notice there are several walk-up windows, but with limited parking and outdoor seating, people seem to prefer the convenience of the drive-thru.

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