Wegmans tries new tactic to solve parking lot problems at East Ave. store

An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information. Probert Street is one way from East Avenue to University Avenue. We regret the error.

Parking-lot traffic congestion and its associated hazards have been issues at the East Avenue Wegmans virtually since the store opened in May 2013.

A large part of the problem has stemmed from drivers — at least 200 a day — using the lot’s curved primary traffic lane to travel between University Avenue and East Avenue. (Probert Street, on the lot’s western edge, is one way from East to University.)

Well, the cut-through days are over: Wegmans just installed a barricade right in the middle of the lot’s main traffic lane, Wegmans spokesperson Jo Natale confirmed in a statement.

Before going this route, the grocer tried other strategies to the solve the parking-lot problems. Speed bumps “were not enough of an impediment,” Natale said. Adding an entrance and an exit onto Probert Street from the lot offered some relief, but not enough. (Plans to make Probert two-way never materialized.) Hiring Rochester police officers to direct traffic in the lot at certain times of day also has helped — and, even with the barricade in place, that practice will continue, Natale said.

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Meanwhile, at least one person is excited about the change, and took to Twitter to express it.

More: Buffalo Wegmans cut overnight hours; no changes in Rochester stores