Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Air Quality

Minneapolis Just Banned Drive-Throughs

11:20 AM EDT on August 9, 2019

The Minneapolis City Council has banned drive-throughs — a move proponents say will make roadways safer and make the air cleaner.

Drive-through windows, such as those at fast-food joints or (ironically) liquor stores — are not that widespread in the Paris of the High Plains, according to the local news site Wedge Live. And even though existing drive-throughs will be grandfathered in, the zoning reform could still have important safety implications.

Research has shown that areas around fast-food restaurants are especially dangerous for pedestrians because drive-throughs require more driveways, which introduce potential points of conflict. Plus, drivers tend to be distracted just before they have ordered their food — and in the moments when they start driving away with it.

A Florida study found that each fast-food restaurant in a low-income block added an average of 0.69 pedestrian crashes every four years. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell were all associated with a greater risk of severe injuries.

The Minneapolis council said the measure would improve air quality by reducing idling, incrementally helping the city comply with its goal of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

The measure is part of a series of progressive improvements contained in the Minneapolis 2040 plan which also did away with minimum-parking requirements and single-family zoning citywide. The city also plans to phase out gas stations.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Why We Care About Some Transportation Tragedies More Than Others

Why do we respond to major transportation disasters with so much urgency — and why don't we count our collective car crash epidemic among them?

March 28, 2024

The Toll of History: MTA Board Approves $15 Congestion Pricing Fee

New York City's first-in-the-nation congestion pricing tolls are one historic step closer to reality after Wednesday's 11-1 MTA board vote. Next step: all those pesky lawsuits.

March 28, 2024

Take Thursday’s Headlines Home, Country Roads

Heat Map reports on why rural Americans are resisting electric vehicles, and why it might not matter much for the climate.

March 28, 2024
See all posts