McDonald's in downtown Rolling Meadows likely to add second drive-through

The popular McDonald's in downtown Rolling Meadows plans to install a second drive-through lane to help ease congestion at the Rolling Meadows Shopping Center.

Officials say the added lane will help control vehicle stacking during the restaurant's busiest times of day, which sometimes leads to cars backing up to the shopping center's main Plaza Drive entrance from Kirchoff Road.

The city council voted 6-0 in a first reading tally Tuesday night on an ordinance that would allow the upgrades through a special use and amendment to a planned development. A final vote is scheduled for July 10.

The new lane will allow an extra four vehicles to wait in line, from 17 to 21, according to Jeff Miller, president of Watermark Engineering Resources, which did engineering plans for the project.

To accommodate the new lane, McDonald's will remove parking spaces along the south side of the restaurant building at 3140 Kirchoff Road, and move other spaces further south toward Kirchoff. In total, the parking lot will have eight fewer spaces (from 34 to 26), but the company has a standing agreement with the shopping center that allows restaurant patrons to park nearby.

The parking lot changes wouldn't affect the location of the city's Christmas tree, which is nearby but not on McDonald's property, city officials said.

McDonald's also plans to update signage on the building as part of the corporation's effort to modernize restaurants across the country.