By Kylie Balk-Yaatenen - December 12th 2023

 

JANESVILLE

Dairy Queen Grill & Chill will soon be the newest addition to the retail and restaurant-heavy Milton Avenue corridor.

Construction on a new building is expected to be done by late February at the juncture of Milton Avenue, Kennedy Road and Randolph Road. It would sit on a wedge-shaped out lot in the 1800 block of Milton Avenue that’s long been marketed for sale or lease. For years the lot has been used by locals mainly as ancillary parking for the U.S. Post Office at 1818 Milton Ave.

Developer Ravi Patel said winter weather is unpredictable so the anticipated late February completion date is subject to change. He did not say when the store would be open, as that’s dependent on when construction wraps up.

In July, the Janesville City Council OK’d a certified survey map, helping to cement a plan by Steve Schultz of Kinzie Street Limited Partnership to build the new Dairy Queen.

Traffic

Many of the conversations surrounding the plan were about traffic. Wisconsin Department of Transportation data shows that Milton Avenue at the intersection of Kennedy and Randolph roads sees about 25,000 vehicles a day. Kennedy and Randolph Roads, and Randall Avenue, an adjacent side street that runs parallel to Milton Avenue, collectively see another 15,500 vehicles.

Along the same spur are a furniture store, a CVS pharmacy, a Walgreens pharmacy and a Big Lots outlet store. Concerns expressed during city Plan Commission meetings in July focused on whether traffic would back up as motorists used the Dairy Queen drive-thru and visit the Post Office.

Two entries are planned along Milton Avenue and Randolph Road to allow for safe traffic flow in and out of the Dairy Queen.

Patel told The Gazette that the site was chosen because it’s on one of the city busiest retail corridors and he expects it will capture some traffic from the Post Office. He said the site’s proximity to the planned Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center would also be beneficial,

“The site offers a lot of positives for a business like ours and we wanted to be in the busy area while maintaining our community presence as well,” he said. “It’s the best of both worlds for us.”

 

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