Blair County Planning Commission members Thursday gave a favorable review for plans to construct a new McDonald’s restaurant in Tyrone.

Plans call for construction of a 3,780-square-foot drive-thru restaurant on a recently merged 0.88-acre parcel along Logan Avenue and West 14th Street. The proposal includes paving, utilities, landscaping and stormwater management controls. Two existing houses will be demolished as part of the project.

It is unclear whether sidewalks are proposed along Logan Avenue, West 14th Street and Cottage Lane.

According to regional planner MacKenzie Caron, the location is a high pedestrian area and the addition of a new fast food restaurant makes it imperative to ensure safety and develop sidewalk connections with the proposed establishment.

Access to the site is proposed through a bidirectional easement from West 14th Street, which opens on two bidirectional parking aisles and a drive-thru lane that splits off into two lanes before a common merge point. An exit onto Alley F is also proposed directly from the drive-thru lane, which could pose a traffic hazard to the surrounding neighborhood, Caron said.

The drive thru appears to be able to hold many cars without backing up into the parking lot; however, with no bypass lane, it could create internal congestion issues.

Planning commission member Todd Lewis is concerned that creation of the new restaurant may lead to traffic congestion at nearby Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street.

“That is a busy and congested area. This may cause more congestion from people exiting McDonald’s and Sheetz,” Lewis said.

Thirty parking spaces are proposed, including two ADA accessible parking spaces, which meets Tyrone Borough’s regulations for developments of this size.

Tyrone Mayor John Harlow is excited to see McDonald’s come to the borough.

“Anytime you bring new business to the community, it is a good thing,” Harlow said. “As someone who grew up in Tyrone, I am excited and probably will put on 10 pounds because I won’t have to drive to Altoona every time I get a craving for McNuggets and McDonald’s fries.”

The proposal does not appear to have any long-term negative impact on the overall community landscape and is therefore consistent with the Alleghenies Ahead comprehensive plan.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.