It's another bank for 5135 River Road in Bethesda. Chase Bank is opening a new branch in the building that was previously home to Bank of America. There has been extensive construction work to remodel the property. The Montgomery County Council continues to block any new fast food restaurants from opening in Bethesda, despite the prime location and drive-thru this site provided. Taco Bell or Chick-fil-A could have made a killing at this location.
16 comments:
The remodeling involved removing a fair bit of the old Brutalist concrete structure last month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLP7IT20unM
Robert, is there any evidence beyond our own two eyes that explains why the county refuses to add fast food or chain dining to the Bethesda area? I too am trying to understand this problem.
Drive thru restaurants (and banks) are a very negative component in building a high-quality, dense, walkable, urban environment. Encouraging folks to drive less, and walk more is a good thing. Or at least, drive to a location, park in structured, or on street spaces, and walk to multiple destination. Queuing up in a drive thru lane should be minimized in all locations.
Drive thru exits create large breaks in the sidewalk, with dangerous crossing points, and create long sections of little interest to pedestrians. Long cues of idling cars is not good for the environment and create large areas only used for cars. Drive thru’s of course are convenient, but trade this for the overall health of the city.
Good question on Fast Food. As a frequent customer of McDonalds across the Street, I have come to the conclusion that Bethesda does NOT want Drive-Thru Fast Food. They allow the one McDonalds because it’s Grandfathered in and they WILL NEVER allow another one !!
Bethesda must remain High Class under any circumstances !
Banks and smoke shops
10:41 AM
Therefore, they should have allowed another drive through chain to offload and balance the traffic flow on that River road stretch.
10:41am That stretch of River Rd is suburban, not exactly an urban environment. It has sidewalks and is walkable. There is decent foot traffic from users of the capital crescent trail. Not urban yet however.
Maybe someday it will be dominated by highrises and be truly urban. Until then, why not a drive thru Starbucks, Chick -Fil-A or other popular chain?
4:39 PM That is exactly my point. Place a drive thru diagonally across River road, where the Chase Bank is slated to locate.
It is my understanding that there will be service roads along that stretch of River Road to
facilitate local traffic and provide more pedestrian safety.
BTW: When McDonald's was Roy Rogers, my wife was struck on the sidewalk by a careless, uninsured driver and the MCPD did absolutely nothing!
10:41 am "There is decent foot traffic from users of the capital crescent trail"
The users prefer to cross River Rd under the overhead pedestrian bridge rather than on it!!!
Drive-thrus are not the answer. I much prefer McDonald's Curbside pickup. I order using the app, not screaming at a loudspeaker. I do not have to exchange cash or a credit card. My car is not idling in a lineup of cars I have to monitor intermittently inch up to the window. I wish all fast food businesses would offer this in some form.
6:29 AM Sounds great, assuming you are not blocking a traffic lane during your pickup interval.
Another negative of drive-thru restaurants - because the traffic needs to loop around the building, it needs to be free-standing and surrounded by a sea of asphalt.
12:43 PM McDonald's is not going anywhere anytime soon. They own their lot.
Don’t forget tattoo parlors
The butchers, the bakers and the candlestick makers have succeeded in mutilating every major artery that leads in and out of Bethesda!
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