The sun might not set on this Burger King for a while.
When Chick-fil-A planned to move into the space currently occupied by the Burger King at 4422 Connecticut Avenue, Van Ness and Forest Hills community leaders opposed it on the grounds that a subsequent increase in drive-thru traffic would create the same kind of “chicken chaos” seen at other locations around the country.
The most recent example is close to home. The newest Chick-fil-A location in DC has brought traffic havoc to a community on Capitol Hill. The chain opened a drive-thru-only location at Maryland Avenue and 14th Street NE near the H Street corridor on May 24th. Fox 5 reports that traffic lining up at Chick-fil-A is snarling traffic on residential streets and requiring attention from both DDOT and the police.
Residents told Fox5 they told Chick-fil-A and their ANC of their concerns last November, to no avail.
ABC7 also talked to locals, and heard the same complaints.
As for the Van Ness Chick-fil-A, ANC 3F and Van Ness Main Street board members argued that increased drive-thru traffic would mean increased pedestrian-motorist conflicts, and on April 28th, 2016, the DC Public Space Committee voted unanimously to deny a permit to widen the drive-thru curb cut due to the traffic this site would generate. Though it could have appealed the decision, Chick-fil-A has apparently moved on, and so has the site’s property management. It is seeking a new tenant.
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Edward R. Levin says
Be careful what you wish for. A double drive through would have reduced backup by accommodating twice as many cars off the street and now we have unhealthy fast food and a run down drive thru. This may not turn out well at all.