Heads-up, drivers! A significant change at one shopping center parking lot in South Jersey could damage your car if you aren't paying attention.

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Most people have done this: you need to get from A to B and you have two options -- one is to use a series of roads or, perhaps the more tempting option, is to just fly across a shopping center parking lot.

If you usually go with that second option, you might be in for quite a surprise in one South Jersey town.

Our travels today take us to Egg Harbor Township, specifically the Cardiff Plaza shopping center. Locals know this as where the Goodwill Store is and East Bay Crab and Grille was many years ago.

Cardiff Plaza Shopping Center in Egg Harbor Township NJ - Photo: Google Maps
Cardiff Plaza Shopping Center in Egg Harbor Township NJ - Photo: Google Maps
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And it's that section of the parking lot in front of where East Bay used to be that has drastically changed.

  • Before
Parking lot before - Photo: Google Maps
Parking lot before - Photo: Google Maps
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As a new restaurant and deli gets ready to open in that space, the owners of the shopping center have redesigned the parking lot there -- a giant curbed parking area is now right in the middle of what used to be a driveway.

  • After
Parking lot after - Photo: Chris Coleman
Parking lot after - Photo: Chris Coleman
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If you aren't paying attention, especially since there are no signs telling you about the change, nor are there any cones or even caution tape up, you're going to drive right into the curb and tear-up the bottom of your car.

Now, keep in mind this driving situation is a bit unique. Drivers coming down Lincoln Avenue towards the Black Horse Pike hit a "do not enter" sign at that shopping center and all of that traffic is forced to go through there.

New parking lot design at Cardiff Plaza shopping center in Egg Harbor Township NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
New parking lot design at Cardiff Plaza shopping center in Egg Harbor Township NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
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And, obviously, if you are looking to leave this shopping center, the road that you used for years is no longer in the same place.

New parking lot design at Cardiff Plaza shopping center in Egg Harbor Township NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
New parking lot design at Cardiff Plaza shopping center in Egg Harbor Township NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
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New way to go

If you are trying to navigate the shopping center, you now have to transverse the length of the parking lot and come back up. This was done to intentionally slow down traffic.

Traffic flow at Cardiff Plaza shopping center in Egg Harbor Township NJ - Photo: Google Maps/TSM Illustration
Traffic flow at Cardiff Plaza shopping center in Egg Harbor Township NJ - Photo: Google Maps/TSM Illustration
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Be careful!

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Empty lots are now stores in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. Existing stores were demolished to build new ones. Roads were changed for the better -- and they put red lights around that traffic circle at the airport.

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