HUNTLEY — Plans for a Tacos Jerez Mexican Restaurant are being finalized to take over the former Burger King building located at 12262 Route 47. With the new business anticipating the utilization of the existing dual drive-thru lanes, it can make one wonder if the increase in traffic and congestion really makes the convenience worth it.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the only way many food establishments thrived was through drive-thrus since indoor seating areas were shut down. According to a CNN article, drive-thru sales hit $133 billion in 2022, which was reported as a 30% increase from 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
With drive-thrus becoming so convenient for both restaurant chains and consumers, then why is it that multiple municipalities across the country are focusing their efforts to ban the construction of new drive-thru windows.
A 2019 NPR article reported that Missouri, New York, Southern California, Arizona, New Jersey, and Minneapolis have all passed legislation to ban drive-thrus in specific areas.
A 2023 study done by the National Restaurant Association, states that the proponents of planning and zoning restrictions on restaurants with drive-thrus suggest that the bans will help reduce emissions and litter, reduce traffic congestion, and enhance walkability.
Additionally, lawmakers in support of banning drive-thrus argue that restaurants associated with drive-thrus almost exclusively serve fast food options, which tend to be high in fat and low in nutritional value, according to the Sustainable Development Code (SDC), an organization that aids local governments in building environmentally conscious and socially equitable communities.
Some researchers suggest that zoning regulations limiting where and how fast-food outlets operate can be used to address the public health issues caused by fast food.
However, with the American Restaurant Association showcasing that 63% of adults they polled being against the ban of drive-thrus in their communities, would banning drive-thrus really solve the issues lawmakers are trying to fight against?
“Suppose a restaurant is barred from including a drive-thru in a new location. In that case, some operators expect they’d opt for pick-up windows, creating the need of additional parking spaces and unintentionally making traffic concerns worse,” stated the ARA in their study. “With the rise of third-party delivery and digital ordering, some operators are experimenting with new drive-thru configurations, such as having a lane dedicated to advance orders (like third-party or pick-up) and a more traditional drive thru lane dedicated to on-site ordering. These new designs will help relieve congestion and speed up customer orders.”
Hank Cardello, director of the Hudson Institute’s Food Policy Center and former food industry executive, said in an interview for the Wisconsin Public Radio, that the fast-food obesity issue needs to begin at the restaurant level and not local legislators.
“The restaurant industry, they’ve gotten a hall pass on this entire obesity issue. They haven’t done much. The programs that they have implemented really haven’t made much impact and I would like to see them sell more healthy fare. We’ve done analysis that show that restaurants that are selling lower calorie kinds of product are actually getting gains in their sales,” Cardello told WPR.
