FORT MILL, S.C. — If you've ever been stuck in the drive-thru at Fort Mill's Chick-fil-A at Baxter Village, we've got some good news. The Fort Mill planning commission recently approved the request to add a second lane.
Traffic jams at Charlotte-area Chick-fil-A restaurants are nothing new, which is why the Fort Mill store is hoping this new lane will keep cars moving.
"I too have spent more time than I'd care to in the drive-thru line," James Traynor said.
The request to add a second lane was approved with some minor tweaks. First, Chick-Fil-A must make changes to their signage and lighting so they meet town fire standards. Second, the new drive-thru lane will replace nine existing parking spaces to prevent overcrowding.
"Which I think, practically, is a good change," said Matt Lucarelli. "I've been in that drive-thru lane before, and if someone exits the restaurant and tries to get out and there's 20 cars in a line, they simply can't get out until they find someone nice enough to let them out."
The drive-thru area will also be expanded to include canopies for ordering and meal delivery. Chick-fil-A management is still asking customers to use the mobile app to prevent cars from wrapping around the building during peak lunch hours.
"If you use the Chick-fil-A app you can actually order your food there and go through the drive-thru to pick it up," Sean Hickman said. "You do not need to park your car."
Another way the restaurant will keep the line moving is having workers hand out plastic menus and take face-to-face orders. They're optimistic this will encourage customers to use the drive-thru instead of going in for take-out orders.
"The face-to-face ordering is able to help answer questions that they have instead of spending too much time at the menu board," Donna Brown said." That's able to pull them through the drive-thru quicker, which means more people will use the drive-thru as opposed to going in and getting their food and parking."
The restaurant hasn't said when the second drive-thru lane will be finished but it won't be long until you get your fast food a little bit faster.