James Clemens High School students craving a cup of chili or a Frosty will soon be able to walk to a new Wendy’s franchise being constructed in Madison-annexed Limestone County.

For the last several weeks, work has been underway on the store, being constructed near the intersection of the school’s access road and County Line Road. A sign announcing it would be a Wendy’s was just erected recently.

The store is being built by franchisees John Hughes and Mike O’Malley of Wendy’s of Bowling Green, Kentucky. The privately held company operates 56 other stores, which includes two other locations in the city limits of Madison.

Eric Sack, vice president of development for Wendy’s of Bowling Green, said he hopes the new location will be open by the second week of June, but added dates can sometimes fluctuate. He added the process to hire 50-60 employees would also begin soon.

When asked about the proximity of the new store to the high school, Sack said it was a desirable location because of the amount of traffic going in and out of the school and up and down County Line Road. The fact it’s also near an intersection was viewed as a plus by the developers.

“That whole area seems to be growing, and there are a lot of rooftops,” he said. “We looked at a couple of sites, but we really liked that one.”

When asked about competition from other restaurants within a short distance — Sonic, McDonald’s, Dairy Queen and Subway — Sack said Wendy’s is happy to compete for diners’ business. He added the County Line location of Wendy’s will come with plenty of unique features customers will enjoy like more windows letting in natural light, community tables and free wi-fi access.

“It’s very upscale and will be an eat-in place,” he said.

For those who prefer to use drive-thru service, the County Line Road Wendy’s is the only location in the country that features a Y-lane, meaning two separate order windows. The concept is used at other fast-food chains, but it’s new to Wendy’s.

“This will truly be a unique store,” Sack said.