iTransport has extensive experience supporting national operators in the delivery of drive-through restaurant developments across the UK. Our work has included schemes for major brands such as Burger King, Popeyes, Wendy’s, KFC, Costa Coffee and Starbucks, ranging from standalone roadside units to sites within mixed-use retail parks and roadside service areas.
These projects are often brought forward in edge-of-centre, retail park or strategic roadside locations where operators are seeking planning permission for new drive-through facilities. While the use itself is operationally familiar, drive-through schemes are frequently viewed by planning and highway authorities as high-risk from a transport perspective. Common concerns include peak-hour traffic generation, queuing and stacking, junction capacity, servicing, and the relationship between vehicles, pedestrians and nearby sensitive uses.
That means transport strategy is often one of the key considerations in whether a proposal is seen as acceptable and deliverable. In some cases, the challenge is proving that a scheme will not create unacceptable impacts on the local network. In others, it is about refining layouts and operations so the proposal works efficiently on constrained sites while still meeting commercial objectives. Across all of these projects, the aim is the same: provide a clear, realistic and evidence-led transport case that reduces planning risk and supports viable delivery.
iTransport provides end-to-end transport planning support for drive-through developments, from early site feasibility through to planning submission and discharge of conditions.
A major focus of our work is realistic trip generation forecasting. Drive-through restaurant schemes are often sensitive because generic data can overstate peak-hour impacts or fail to reflect how particular brands and sites actually operate. We apply careful filtering, sensitivity testing and professional judgement to account for local context, pass-by and linked trips, and the operational characteristics of individual operators. This allows us to produce assessments that are robust without driving unnecessary or disproportionate mitigation.
Operational design is also a key part of our role. We advise on internal layout, lane stacking, entry and exit arrangements, order and collection points, and how different movements interact across the site. This includes considering potential conflicts between drive-through traffic, dine-in customers, deliveries and pedestrians. On more constrained sites, we work closely with architects and wider design teams to refine layouts that maximise efficiency while maintaining safety and planning compliance.
Early and proactive engagement with local highway authorities is central to our approach. We identify likely transport objections early, agree modelling methodologies where needed, and develop proportionate solutions that support the scheme without undermining viability. Senior input helps maintain that balance between commercial realism and planning risk throughout the process.
Our transport strategies have supported the successful delivery of more than 100 drive-through restaurant schemes nationwide, helping major operators secure planning permission across a wide range of roadside, retail and regeneration locations.
By applying realistic trip assumptions and robust transport evidence, iTransport has frequently helped address planning and highway authority concerns at an early stage. In some cases, that has meant demonstrating that impacts are lower than first assumed. In others, it has involved refining layouts or introducing proportionate improvements focused on access, pedestrian connectivity or operational efficiency.
The result has been reduced planning risk, smoother determination processes and commercially deliverable schemes. For many clients, our support has helped take projects from initial site appraisal through to opening with greater clarity and confidence, supporting investment and employment in local areas.
We provide the full range of specialist transport planning services needed to take schemes from early concept through to consent and delivery
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