Bellevue staff say the craze over the city’s new Chick-fil-A restaurant will last a few more weeks, but the latest steps taken to tackle the traffic congestion it’s caused appear to be working.
The city’s fifth busiest intersection has been heavily congested – eastbound on Northeast Eighth Street and southbound on 116th Avenue Northeast – since Chick-fil-A opened on April 9.
From April 16-30, off-duty Bellevue police officers put in nearly 297 hours in overtime costs providing traffic control for the restaurant, at a cost of $23,122 for Chick-fil-A owner Valerie Artis.
The newest temporary solution reached by the city and Chick-fil-A last week is to limit the amount of cars allowed into the parking lot to 10 at a time, and then closing the driveway when the drive-thru and parking stalls are full. A flagger directs traffic to continue moving south on 116th when there is no room. Anyone wanting to try their luck at Chick-fil-A again can loop back around to Northeast Eighth.
“It’s not turning them away,” Artis said. “We don’t want to say, ‘Go away,’ we want to say, ‘Be patient with us as we work with the city.’ ”
While the intersection has always been busy, Bellevue Transportation Director Dave Berg told the city council on Monday the new traffic control measure has brought it to a “near normal level.” He added transactions at Chick-fil-A are also going down.
Berg said Chick-fil-A is also working to secure 52 additional parking spots through agreements with the Coast Hotel and city-owned Lincoln Center Plaza. For the long term, he said city staff is working with the restaurant to improve its on-site parking configuration.
To deal with complaints about increased trash along 116th from Chick-fil-A, restaurant employees have been picking up outside twice per day in an attempt to alleviate the situation, according to the release.
A Tacoma location opened up a few weeks ago, and another larger Chick-fil-A opens in Lynnwood on Thursday.
Mayor Claudia Balducci said Monday the restaurant caused backups on I-405, from drivers trying to exit to Northeast Eighth, which was harmful to the regional traffic flow.
“That’s quite something for one drive-thru to do,” she said.
“How many of you thought it would take more police officers to open a Chick-fil-A than to open a marijuana dispensary?” said Councilmember John Chelminiak.
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The city has another traffic plan for dealing with the slow down being caused by fast food, as Chick-fil-A’s popularity has failed to die down since its opening three weeks ago. The plan means not everyone in traffic waiting for Chick-fil-A will leave satisfied.
“Safety continues to be our top priority as we develop our traffic plan surrounding the operation of this restaurant. We are hopeful that changes made today will result in reduced congestion at this location,” said Bellevue Deputy Police Chief Mike Johnson in a news release Thursday.
The city’s fifth busiest intersection continues to see congestion eastbound on Northeast Eighth Street and southbound on 116th Avenue Northeast, though the city does report weekly decreases in vehicle volumes.
The temporary solution reached by the city and Chick-fil-A is to limit the amount of cars allowed into the parking lot to 10 at a time, and then closing the driveway when the drive-thru and parking stalls are full. A flagger will then direct traffic to continue moving south on 116th. Anyone wanting to try their luck at Chick-fil-A again can loop back around to Northeast Eighth, according to the release.
“It’s not turning them away,” said Chick-fil-A owner Valerie Artis. “We don’t want to say, ‘Go away,’ we want to say, ‘Be patient with us as we work with the city.”
Artis said the city and Chick-fil-A are also attempting to find parking options in the surrounding area for when the restaurant’s lot fills up.
“We want to be here to facilitate the neighbors,” she said.
To deal with complaints about increased trash along 116th from Chick-fil-A , restaurant employees have been picking up outside twice per day in an attempt to alleviate the situation, according to the release.
“As president of the Lake Bellevue Neighborhood Association we at first were honored to have them join the area, but just like the location of Whole Foods we see this as really poor planning by the city,” stated Michael J. Link in an email to the Reporter. “The amount of car traffic is double what it was just a few short years ago and it is dumb to think we can get around in our cars like we used to. This location in (stet) proof is completely unsuited for this type of car centric access and causes way too many problems for the rest of us just trying to get through to conduct business and affairs.”
