In-N-Out Burger wants to build a fourth restaurant in the Boise area — on buzzing Ten Mile Road in Meridian.
If you’re worried about traffic? Just chill and have some fries, the chain seems to be saying.
A recent analysis from In-N-Out could alleviate some Idahoans’ concerns. For others? It might feel like the California-based brand is laying it on as thick as a Double-Double.
Me? I’m just grateful that I don’t have to endure a Meridian commute.
The proposed In-N-Out would be at 5985 and 6037 N. Ten Mile Road, according to a request for a conditional-use permit. Naturally, not everyone around the intersection of Ten Mile and Lost Rapids Drive — near Chinden Boulevard — is thrilled about cars streaming into an insanely popular restaurant.
Despite the new burger-flipping crowd magnet, traffic would continue to be “acceptable,” In-N-Out’s lengthy report says. That’s not entirely reassuring. Not when “barely tolerable” is how many Treasure Valley residents increasingly feel about navigating rush hour.
‘Vehemently opposed’
The line to get into the new In-N-Out, or navigate the drive-thru, turned into a long wait at the grand opening at The Village at Meridian in December 2023.
The large Bainbridge housing development sits right behind the proposed In-N-Out, south of Chinden and west of Ten Mile. Its homeowners association told the city of Meridian that 80% of its 573-member group voted against the restaurant’s location.
Citing congestion at the nearby Costco, Olivia Apartments, and fast-food restaurants both present and planned, one Bainbridge couple wrote to the city that they were “vehemently opposed.” Their main entrance into the neighborhood is near the intersection, they explained last year.
“As a family from California, we are also well aware of the popularity of In-N-Out Burger, and how the revolving door of a busy drive through establishment impacts residential traffic. We are certain that (if) the city of Meridian were to conduct a traffic (infliction) study, the results would clearly reinforce our concern.”
No worries, Idaho. In a newly resubmitted project cover letter, In-N-Out Burger said it’s handled that.
Development Manager Todd Smith wrote that the report’s conclusions indicate that the intersection would continue to be, well … Meridian. The Meridian we all know and love.
‘Mitigation’ not needed
“The traffic analysis demonstrates that the construction and operation of the proposed In-N-Out Burger at Ten Mile and Lost Rapids will not create any significant traffic impacts to the surrounding roadways,” Smith wrote, “and it has the capacity to maintain the drive-thru queue fully on-site.”
Cars in the drive-thru won’t line up clear onto the road? That’s good to know.
Still, overall traffic expectations in Meridian are basically pretty depressing.
“The Ten Mile and Lost Rapids intersection is forecast to continue operating within acceptable Levels of Service (E or better) during peak hours; no mitigation is required,” Smith wrote.
“All study roadway segments are forecast to continue operating within acceptable Levels of Service (E or better for Ten Mile Road; D or better for Lost Rapids Drive) during peak hours; no mitigation is required.”
A quick traffic lesson: In Levels of Service (LOS) grades, A is best, F is worst — with E being next to worst. In short, E means “unstable flow, operating at capacity,” Wikipedia says.
Meridian, pretty much, right?
“Most design or planning efforts typically use service flow rates at LOS C or D,” Wikipedia explains, “to ensure an acceptable operating service for facility users.”
I guess we don’t always set the bar super-high in Meridian — for years one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities. What’s done is already done.
Price of progress
California-based fast food giant In-N-Out made its Idaho debut in 2023 with people waiting in line at The Village at Meridian.
So what does this mean for In-N-Out’s hopes for the Ten Mile store?
Or for the future of bumper-to-bumper Treasure Valley traffic in general?
Well, Meridian is still surviving after In-N-Out made its Idaho debut on Fairview Avenue right off slammed Eagle Road in late 2023. And Boise’s traffic kept crawling after one appeared by Boise Towne Square last fall. And Nampa remains alive after a new In-N-Out opened in January.
Like crushing an 1,100-calorie combo meal, we’ll all probably just ignore the ramifications.
In Meridian, we take our traffic “animal style.”