SEQUIM — If you think the commercial strip at the corner of West Washington Street and River Road is busy now, just wait.
Applebee’s, a midpriced bar and grill chain, opens a location Monday on River Road next to the U.S. Highway 101 on-ramp, with a Taco Time location soon to follow next door.
A Jack in the Box fast food restaurant is being built in front of Wal-Mart, which opened at the end of last year.
The Home Depot opened across the street from Wal-Mart earlier this year.
In May, construction is expected to begin on the first half of a 35,000-square-foot retail development on property immediately to the west of Wal-Mart.
Called Riverbend Center, the first half of the project will have eight commercial locations of various sizes.
Six of those spots are already filled, said Joe Geivitt, co-owner of Pac Land, the developer, but only three names could be released: Quizno’s Subs, EB Games and HairMasters.
Bremerton-based Westsound Bank is also going to build a branch at that intersection.
Eventually, there will also be a 15,000- to 20,000-square-foot anchor tenant in Riverbend Center, and a senior housing development is planned next door.