INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – Over 15 hours ahead of the grand opening of the Independence Whataburger, one superfan was already in line.
Laura Ferguson of Independence was born and raised in Texas and started the line at 8:30 p.m. Sunday night. The grand opening was on Monday at 11 a.m.
“I had to be first,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson was in line wearing a Whataburger Christmas sweater and matching Whataburger Christmas socks.
She said she has the matching pants, but chose not to wear them for the grand opening.
Ferguson’s efforts and love for the fast-food burger chain are not a selfish commitment. She is picking up orders for all of her coworkers.
“Whataburger with cheese and I got a lot of coworkers I need to order for so I need like 15 meals,” Ferguson said.
After the traffic issues from the Lee’s Summit opening, Independence was proactive and changed the traffic patterns to ease the traffic in the area.
Customers will have to take I-70 East and exit on Little Blue Parkway and head west on 40 Highway. You can not exit east onto 40 Highway.
The updated traffic pattern will be in place until Friday and will be reassessed.
Including the Independence and Lee’s Summit locations, Whataburger has plans to open over a dozen new restaurants in the Kansas City area through 2023. They released tentative Whataburger opening dates for many sites earlier this month.