Opinion: New Main Street businesses will make traffic worse

The announcement of a new In-N-Out Burger coming to Logan came with a lot of mixed feelings from the community. At first, there was excitement. In-N-Out is known for being in the West and devoting its entire brand to that aesthetic.  

There are already many in Utah, but one coming to Logan this far north is interesting, but not out of the ordinary. Logan is a college town at heart, so they will have plenty of business.  

Which may become a problem.  

Sitting at one of the busiest intersections in Cache Valley — 4th North and Main Street — the large iconic yellow arrow sign will be hard to miss. From a business standpoint, it is a perfect place to put a new restaurant. But it comes with a price put on the city: traffic. 

In-N-Out is not alone in the expansion of Logan’s new eateries. The Habit Burger Grill and Cafe Zupas are set to open near the same time In-N-Out finishes construction. Dutch Bros Coffee and Cupbop recently opened their doors to the public. All great tasting restaurants. All with the same flaw.  

Back in November 2020, the first In-N-Out in Colorado opened in Aurora. The first day it opened customers waited up to 12 hours in the drive-thru. On the second day, more than eight hours of waiting.  

Unlike Colorado, this is not the first In-N-Out in Utah — Logan’s will be Utah’s 11th. The problem will be traffic. We likely will not see up to eight-hour wait times, but only a couple of hours the first few weeks. 

Back in late 2020, Logan’s Chick-fil-A opened back up after being closed for renovations. They opened to drive-thru only due to the pandemic, and employees reported some wait times were longer than two hours.  

We will see backed-up traffic and congested streets. Logan dug itself into a hole we cannot jump out of by making Main Street only two lanes on both sides, unable to expand due to the closeness of its buildings. During rush hour on a Friday evening, it takes more than 20 minutes to go a mile. The placement of all the new restaurants will only add to the travel time. 

Café Zupas will open on the corner of 7th North and Main Street, not as busy of an intersection, but will compete with local favorite Angie’s right across the street. 

Dutch Bros, a drive-thru-only coffee and tea chain, recently opened on 910 N. Main Street, right down the road from McDonald’s. Since Dutch Bros has been opened, there have been orange traffic cones leading traffic into the restaurant. Often there has been a police officer stationed there, to help direct traffic.  

In a poll taken on social media, I asked 50 people whether they were excited about the new restaurants coming to town. Only 17% of respondents said they are excited, while 60% said they are not excited because of the traffic it will bring.  

The expansion of Logan is great. Welcoming new businesses and companies is always exciting. But there needs to be more thought put into where they will go and how it affects the community. In the extremely near future, Logan will see the need to expand in width, and not continue to over-crowd its beloved Main Street.  

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Kaden Schipaanboord is studying journalism at Utah State. He has a passion for movies and loves anything outdoors.

— A02331363@usu.edu