New Chick-fil-A restaurants to create chicken chokepoints in Everett, Bellingham

It’s a chicken chokepoint on this Monday morning. Drivers in Mill Creek and south Everett need to be ready. A new Chick-fil-A restaurant is opening this week, and it has the potential to create gridlock.

Traffic jams can be caused by just about anything. Crashes, bad drivers, construction, weather, and yes, even chicken.

I found this out the hard way in 2015 when the first Chick-fil-A in Washington opened in Bellevue. It was a prime location, just east of I-405 on N.E. 8th. What happened next was historic. When it opened, 405 stopped. There were so many people trying to get off at that exit that it created a mile-long backup on 405. The city streets were jammed as well.

It was from that point forward that I made it a point to check the traffic management plan when a new Chick-fil-A opens in an urban corridor. Aurora Avenue. Lynnwood. I’ve watched them all.

New Everett Chick-fil-A location faces potential traffic nightmare

The restaurant opening Thursday in south Everett has the potential for similar traffic problems.

It is just north of Mill Creek, where two of Snohomish County’s biggest roads intersect. The new Chick-fil-A is on the east side of SR 527, about 500 feet from 132nd Street S.E.

People turning into this location, which is a drive-thru only, have the potential to prevent others from turning north onto SR 527. The signal there routinely backs up during the afternoon commute, and that’s without chicken lovers slowing everyone else down.

This location also falls within a no-man’s land of responsibility. It’s in unincorporated Snohomish County, with Everett and Mill Creek on either side, and SR 527 is a state highway. I have been bouncing between agencies for months to see who’s responsible for the traffic management. The Traffic Management Analysis was approved by all four agencies.

They decided that no traffic mitigation was necessary, but the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) told me, “We did state that we would monitor the site when open, specifically the turning traffic entering and exiting the site, and reserved the right to implement access control if the site did not operate as reported in the TIA.”

So we’ll see how it goes.

Let’s just say that I live near this location, and I will not be going anywhere near it until I see how traffic responds. I will find another way to I-5. I will find another way home from the gym.

Another Chick-fil-A is set to open on April 30 in Bellingham. It has the potential to create trouble, too, but it’s off the road just a little bit with better opportunities to manage congestion. It’s just north of the Bellis Fair Mall, on Cordata Parkway.

I do see some potential for backups on the Meridian Street off-ramp from I-5, but it should be manageable.

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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