Something has to give

An already crowded I-40 in Amarillo will be getting more crowded. Plans were announced and zoning commissioners approved Monday a third hotel to be built in the new Western Crossing shopping center at I-40 and Western.

Plans are to build an 80-room Comfort Suites and two 100-room hotels, a Candlewood Suites and a Staybridge Suites. There's been a lot of new hotels that have sprung up in the last few years. Drive through Amarillo on a summer night and it's amazing how full the hotels are.

Still, not all are going to prosper and a few will probably close. And I can't help question the viability of a downtown hotel and if the demand would actually be there.

It's the same with eating establishments along I-40. How long would it take to eat at every restaurant daily in a two-block radius of I-40 from the western edge of the city to the Big Texan? A looong time. Amarillo is an eating-out town, even in this economy, but it's going to be survival of the fittest (or cheapest or best service or best food) eventually.