Arby’s, shown at its location on Perryville Road in Loves Park, plans to build at 7270 E. Riverside Blvd. in Loves Park. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
    By Kevin Haas
    Rock River Current
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    LOVES PARK — The city’s corridor of restaurants off the interstate already has coffee, ice cream, tacos and burgers. Soon, it will have the meats.

    Arby’s, the fast food chain that goes by the slogan “we have the meats,” plans to build a new restaurant at 7270 E. Riverside Boulevard, just east of Sherman Williams.

    That’s the newest addition to a stretch of Riverside Boulevard west of Interstate 90 that added Starbucks and Chiptole last year. Tom & Jerry’s plans to start construction soon at 7170 E. Riverside Blvd. for its fourth restaurant in the area.

    “I think it’s a combination of the traffic count and the success that the other ones are having,” Mayor Greg Jury said of the recent additions. “You always wonder why there’s a CVS next to a Walgreens: You get those by each other because the amount of people that come by.”

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    That stretch of road sees roughly 16,500 vehicles move past each day, growing to more than 23,000 as you move further west down Riverside, according to Illinois Department of Transportation traffic counts.

    Further down Riverside has even more new restaurants, with Cantina Taco opening at 6342 E. Riverside Blvd. near the start of the year and Baked Wings set to open soon at 6290 E. Riverside Blvd. Keep heading west and you’ll soon find the new Mi Placita Mexico Clasico Restaurant, which plans to open in a few weeks at 1726 E. Riverside Blvd.

    Jury said additions such as Costco in summer 2019, the expansion of the Mercyhealth Sportscore Two Indoor Sports Center in 2017 and the new turf fields before that also drive traffic to the area.

    “You look at those weekends when there’s 125 soccer teams here, and these kids have to eat,” Jury said.

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    It’s not clear when Arby’s will break ground on its restaurant. City Council members voted Monday to approve a special-use permit for the restaurant.

    Arby’s leases space at 6802 Rock Valley Parkway off Perryville Road, and would move from there to the new space, city officials said. But they have not provided a timeline for that move. Messages to Arby’s corporate offices were not returned.

    Loves Park City Council members approved a special-use permit on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, for Arby’s to build on this site at 7270 E. Riverside Boulevard, just east of Sherman Williams. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

    This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.

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