Petitions For, Against QuikTrip Move Gain Signatures

In the end of March, Board of Education President Maria Langston wrote an to the MRH community opposing ’s relocation from 3010 Big Bend Boulevard to the northwest corner of Manchester Road and Big Bend Boulevard.

A group of MRH parents and others the move on Patch, though some liked the idea.

Since then, both sides have started to collect signatures to show support.

A petition sits on the counter at QuikTrip, and MRH parent Tonya Powell is organizing volunteers to canvas neighborhoods to collect signatures to oppose the move.

“We’re concerned about adding QuikTrip to an already crowded and dangerous intersection,” Powell said.

Many MRH students need to navigate the busy intersection to walk to school.

“As a parent of a middle schooler and high schooler, that’s my main concern,” she said. “I think that intersection is already dangerous, and they’re already adding the CVS and trying to add a McDonalds; a QuikTrip, too, is a recipe for disaster.”

QuikTrip spokesman, Mike Thornburgh, said by phone from the company’s home office in Tulsa, OK, that it’s too early to comment on a schedule or a process, though a rendering of a new QT is taped to the counter next to the petition.

“I can tell you we are always looking at potential relocations for all sites, but for this particular one, it’s just way too early to say anything,” he said.

Ward 3 Councilman Barry Greenberg said nothing has reached the city level.

“There’s nothing to decide on yet,” he said.