Service plazas on turnpikes/thruways/toll roads

[chays]

I asked about this topic on the Northeast board, with specific attention on the New York Thruway.

Now, I'm looking broader at the country (and other countries), wanting to know peoples' thoughts and feelings about service plazas on turnpikes, thruways, and toll roads.
-What kind of variances are there from state to state?
-What states are good when it comes to quality and quantity of services offered at service plazas? What states are bad?
-Over the decades, what has changed about how these plazas serve the motoring public? I'd be curious to know when they came about, what they were like in the 40's, 60's, 80's, etc.
-Do some toll roads have stops with more amenities (car wash? Showers? Mechanics? Non-fast food choices?). Is there one standout among rest stops?
-Do you have a favorite service plaza?
-Do you have any interesting anecdotes about any particular plaza?

I'm trying to get a feel for how rest stops are reinventing themselves and if that's a common trend or not and compare how NY stands up to the other states

[SteveG1988]

Main variances are what is provided for truck parking. Most have fast food. McDonalds, Sbarro, BK, Hardee's, Roy Rogers out east, etc. Truck parking is either overly abundant, or none at all. IS it a median based one like oklahoma and kentucky, is it an over the road oasis...etc. is the other

Good state would be ohio, bad would be indiana. Ohio has more plazas with each one having something different. Indiana is more standardized and fewer.

Over the decades what has happened is people drive longer distances without needing as many breaks. Simple as that.

NJ turnpike has tires and oil changes at most plazas most have just...food.

Favorite would be the Ohio Turnpike one near toledo @ I280. It has a hardee's/red burrito and it isn't expensive to get 5 tacos. It also has full laundry facilities and laundry for truck drivers like all other ohio ones.

[Great Lakes Roads]

The Illinois Tollway has three over-the-road oasis in the system (Belvidere, Lake Forest, and Chicago Southland) and one on one side of the highway (DeKalb). There was also three over-the-road oasis that have either been torn down or plan on demolishing (Des Plaines- gone, O'Hare, Hinsdale). All of them have Mobile/7-Eleven and a car wash. The remaining oasis have various restaurants to choose from.

Indiana, on the other hand, is TINY and SMALLER. Two of them are convenience stores and the other two have a couple of fast-food restaurants in them.

Personally, the Ohio Turnpike service plazas are the nicest plazas that I've seen in my travels.

[1995hoo]

One of the variances from state to state I've noted in the past is service area positioning–on the right side versus in the median–and whether U-turns can be executed via a service area. The New Jersey Turnpike's service areas are all on the "outside" (the right side of the road) except for the Vince Lombardi. Florida's Turnpike, by contrast, has them all in the median. The median design is theoretically less expensive because you only need one set of facilities, though you might need to make it bigger to serve the added traffic. Service areas on the New Jersey Turnpike, the New York Thruway, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike are also set up so that even when the two directions of travel share one service area (again, excepting the Vince Lombardi, where I believe this doesn't apply), there is some sort of divider down the parking lot so you can't effectively make a U-turn by going through the service area. Florida doesn't prohibit that.

When I was a little kid, the Maryland House had a classy white-tablecloth sit-down restaurant. That's long gone; it disappeared in the early 1980s, if I recall correctly, in favor of fast food. I have not been there since its most recent renovation and in general I tend to avoid stopping there just because it's often crowded. If I'm driving north and I need a toilet break, I try to hold it until the Chesapeake service area (the next one to the north), but in general I seldom drive north via I-95 anymore just because I've been that way too many times, and when I travel for work I'm usually on Amtrak.

[jeffandnicole]

One of the variances from state to state I've noted in the past is service area positioning–on the right side versus in the median–and whether U-turns can be executed via a service area. The New Jersey Turnpike's service areas are all on the "outside" (the right side of the road) except for the Vince Lombardi. Florida's Turnpike, by contrast, has them all in the median. The median design is theoretically less expensive because you only need one set of facilities, though you might need to make it bigger to serve the added traffic. Service areas on the New Jersey Turnpike, the New York Thruway, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike are also set up so that even when the two directions of travel share one service area (again, excepting the Vince Lombardi, where I believe this doesn't apply), there is some sort of divider down the parking lot so you can't effectively make a U-turn by going through the service area. Florida doesn't prohibit that.

When I was a little kid, the Maryland House had a classy white-tablecloth sit-down restaurant. That's long gone; it disappeared in the early 1980s, if I recall correctly, in favor of fast food. I have not been there since its most recent renovation and in general I tend to avoid stopping there just because it's often crowded. If I'm driving north and I need a toilet break, I try to hold it until the Chesapeake service area (the next one to the north), but in general I seldom drive north via I-95 anymore just because I've been that way too many times, and when I travel for work I'm usually on Amtrak.

The Vince Lombardi is an oddball when it comes to Rest Areas/Service Plazas, both on a state and national level, because it serves not only as a normal service plaza, but as a Park and Ride and a Trucker's holding area.  Even with all of that, along with it being in the center of the highway, it still manages to utilize right-sided offramps (which are expensive and take up additional real estate, even though the surrounding area really isn't buildable/usable).  However, since it's outside the tolled system of the Turnpike, u-turns are permitted. 

As you referenced with not making u-turns, this is mostly going to be found at Service Plazas within a ticketed system, so you can't go a certain distance, make a U-turn, then come back to where you entered the toll road.  If you managed to exit where you entered, you will be charged a maximum toll.

Using NJ as an example, the AC Expressway and GSP have service areas that are "inside" as they're not ticketed systems.  They could easily seal off the parking lot to prevent motorists making u-turns (and potentially avoiding a toll).  On the AC Expressway, there's very little reason a traveler would want to travel just to the travel plazas unless they want overpriced food and gas.  One could avoid a toll, but it's about a 20 mile round trip just to avoid paying 75 cents.  On the GS Parkway, many of the parking lots serve as park-and-rides, and due to the single direction entrance/exits along the parkway, many of them service travelers that need to access those single-direction ramps.  And from the Parkway's view, while they usually won't officially endorse some of those u-turns, allowing them reduces the need to spend tens of millions to build the missing ramps.

Many Turnpike Service Plazas had full-service, sit down restaurants back in the 1960's and 1970's, because it was basically a luxury to drive a well-maintained toll road, and the service level was likened to first-class service on an airline.  When travel as a whole became more common and easier with the interstate system being nearly completed, travelers wanted food options that didn't require an hour's worth of their time.  So out went the white tablecloths and sit down meals, and in came the prepared/fast food options.

[1995hoo]

....

As you referenced with not making u-turns, this is mostly going to be found at Service Plazas within a ticketed system, so you can't go a certain distance, make a U-turn, then come back to where you entered the toll road.  If you managed to exit where you entered, you will be charged a maximum toll.

....

I suppose part of what I've never really understood is why some of the toll agencies seem to be so afraid of this. If someone wants to (or needs to, say if the driver realizes he left his wallet behind) pay the maximum possible toll, then that's more money for the toll agency, right? Why is that such a problem? (I suppose there is the issue of what, in the prior thread I linked, vdeane called "idiot protection"–setting it up to guard against the possibility of people accidentially getting back on going the wrong way and either wasting a lot of time or getting charged the higher toll.)

[Buck87]

Indiana, on the other hand, is TINY and SMALLER. Two of them are convenience stores and the other two have a couple of fast-food restaurants in them.

Personally, the Ohio Turnpike service plazas are the nicest plazas that I've seen in my travels.

Agree with both of these points.

I am not a fan of the new Indiana ones that are just a slightly larger than normal convenience store, with everyone having to snake through the aisles to get to the restrooms.

[webny99]

I guess I don't get the love for Illinois Tollway service areas.

Maybe that's because the only one I can remember stopping at was one of the smallest, dingiest, and even unsafe-feeling rest stops I've been to - in any state. After some searching, I think it was this joint. Certainly not your typical Thruway rest stop & I believe the bathrooms may have even been one-holers!

[Brandon]

I guess I don't get the love for Illinois Tollway service areas.

Maybe that's because the only one I can remember stopping at was one of the smallest, dingiest, and even unsafe-feeling rest stops I've been to - in any state. After some searching, I think it was this joint. Certainly not your typical Thruway rest stop & I believe the bathrooms may have even been one-holers!

If you went to just the convenience store at the filling station, then, yes, those washrooms aren't great.  The over-the-road pavilions are much, much better.

[jeffandnicole]

....

As you referenced with not making u-turns, this is mostly going to be found at Service Plazas within a ticketed system, so you can't go a certain distance, make a U-turn, then come back to where you entered the toll road.  If you managed to exit where you entered, you will be charged a maximum toll.

....

I suppose part of what I've never really understood is why some of the toll agencies seem to be so afraid of this. If someone wants to (or needs to, say if the driver realizes he left his wallet behind) pay the maximum possible toll, then that's more money for the toll agency, right? Why is that such a problem? (I suppose there is the issue of what, in the prior thread I linked, vdeane called "idiot protection"–setting it up to guard against the possibility of people accidentially getting back on going the wrong way and either wasting a lot of time or getting charged the higher toll.)

For the most part, there was no real legit reason would there be to access a service plaza on a Turnpike, only to return back to where you entered.  Especially in the early days of the Turnpike, it wasn't going to be seen as much of a highway for commuting, and especially not for carpooling.  As I mentioned, there isn't much incentive for motorists to want to go to a service plaza for eating, shopping, bathroom, gas or car repair.

In more recent times, if you needed to access a NJ Turnpike Service Plaza for, say, to pick up an EZ Pass, they gave you directions how to get to the employee lot and enter thru the back door of the Plaza!

The most likely reason someone would present a ticket from where they entered is that they managed to hold onto a ticket from when they used the Turnpike at one point.  Once that's done, you can enter the Turnpike, pick up another toll ticket, then exit the turnpike using whatever ticket gives you a cheaper fare.  Yes, there's time stamps and encoding, but that would entail all the machines working properly, which from experience doesn't happen.  And from a toll collector's view, we're not going to sit there and argue with the motorist over something that, for all intents and purposes, accuses them of stealing without any proof.  So the easiest way to avoid instances that may involve u-turns: Simply don't allow it.

[1995hoo]

^^^^

I wasn't so much thinking of the idea of going to a service area as a destination. I guess I'm thinking more in terms of a situation where someone either forgets something important (necessitating a U-turn) or just plain changes his mind on where he's going. (I suppose nowadays there's the situation where you get a message saying to turn around for whatever reason, like an emergency at home, but obviously that wasn't a scenario back when the turnpikes, and their original service areas, were built.) Yeah, you can get off at the next exit and turn around, although at least on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that can entail going a long way before you hit an exit.

[kphoger]

I'll speak for Mexico.

On older toll roads, there are usually services at the toll booths:  bathrooms, often a convenience store, possibly a (sketchy) restaurant or two, but probably not gasoline.  Away from toll booths, services (gas station plus food and bathrooms) are located along the side of the highway;  this generally means you can only access them from one side of the highway but, for example, this service area between Laredo and Monterrey can be accessed by way of median U-turns about a half-mile on each side of it (one of which is immediately before reaching a toll booth).

On newer or shorter toll roads, don't be surprised if services haven't popped up yet at all–or at least are few and far between.

[ibagli]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads? You can't get to the gas stations (though I guess you could walk back and forth with a can if you really needed to) but the employee parking lots have signs saying that customers can use them as well. I'm sure they don't get a lot of business that way, but some of them are out in the sticks where there aren't many other businesses, so it might be of use to the locals occasionally.

[Brandon]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads? You can't get to the gas stations (though I guess you could walk back and forth with a can if you really needed to) but the employee parking lots have signs saying that customers can use them as well. I'm sure they don't get a lot of business that way, but some of them are out in the sticks where there aren't many other businesses, so it might be of use to the locals occasionally.

The Illinois ones allow for that access.

[sbeaver44]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads? You can't get to the gas stations (though I guess you could walk back and forth with a can if you really needed to) but the employee parking lots have signs saying that customers can use them as well. I'm sure they don't get a lot of business that way, but some of them are out in the sticks where there aren't many other businesses, so it might be of use to the locals occasionally.

I need to check PA's rules about this, because I know how to get to the Highspire plaza's parking area, and it's the only Steak and Shake east of US 119 in PA that I know of. 

But I have never tried to go there when not using the turnpike, and it'd be nice not to have to go the whole way out to exit 266 and back.


Also, I am a big fan of Ohio's plazas.

[Buck87]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads? You can't get to the gas stations (though I guess you could walk back and forth with a can if you really needed to) but the employee parking lots have signs saying that customers can use them as well. I'm sure they don't get a lot of business that way, but some of them are out in the sticks where there aren't many other businesses, so it might be of use to the locals occasionally.

I've done that several times, at the Erie Islands/Commodore Perry plazas near Clyde, though it's been a while. When those new plazas first opened they had Max and Erma's, and my parents liked to go there to eat.

[Crown Victoria]

I need to check PA's rules about this, because I know how to get to the Highspire plaza's parking area, and it's the only Steak and Shake east of US 119 in PA that I know of. 
But I have never tried to go there when not using the turnpike, and it'd be nice not to have to go the whole way out to exit 266 and back.

There is a Steak and Shake at the South Midway plaza as well.  Stopped there many times on the way home from western PA.  There's also one off I-78 at Fogelsville, one off I-80 near Bloomsburg, and one in the Philly area.  Still would be more helpful for you to be able to access Highspire without getting on the Turnpike proper. 

Speaking of the South Midway plaza, it is my personal favorite of the PA Turnpike's plazas, because of the display of PA Turnpike history inside.

[sbeaver44]

I need to check PA's rules about this, because I know how to get to the Highspire plaza's parking area, and it's the only Steak and Shake east of US 119 in PA that I know of. 
But I have never tried to go there when not using the turnpike, and it'd be nice not to have to go the whole way out to exit 266 and back.

There is a Steak and Shake at the South Midway plaza as well.  Stopped there many times on the way home from western PA.  There's also one off I-78 at Fogelsville, one off I-80 near Bloomsburg, and one in the Philly area.  Still would be more helpful for you to be able to access Highspire without getting on the Turnpike proper. 

Speaking of the South Midway plaza, it is my personal favorite of the PA Turnpike's plazas, because of the display of PA Turnpike history inside.

Oh good to know.

Yeah, South Midway is quite awesome.  I like the new service plazas in general but some of the old charm is cool too.

[hbelkins]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads?

You can get to Tamarack and the service place there from an access road off WV 3, without having to use the WV Turnpike.

[paulthemapguy]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads? You can't get to the gas stations (though I guess you could walk back and forth with a can if you really needed to) but the employee parking lots have signs saying that customers can use them as well. I'm sure they don't get a lot of business that way, but some of them are out in the sticks where there aren't many other businesses, so it might be of use to the locals occasionally.

The Illinois ones allow for that access.

The surface road access to Illinois Tollway oases are gated off and presumably for employee use only. 
https://goo.gl/maps/yVzAHXmAyEJ3ahZ89

[ilpt4u]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads? You can't get to the gas stations (though I guess you could walk back and forth with a can if you really needed to) but the employee parking lots have signs saying that customers can use them as well. I'm sure they don't get a lot of business that way, but some of them are out in the sticks where there aren't many other businesses, so it might be of use to the locals occasionally.

The Illinois ones allow for that access.

The surface road access to Illinois Tollway oases are gated off and presumably for employee use only. 
https://goo.gl/maps/yVzAHXmAyEJ3ahZ89

I do like when the "gate"  is open near the gas station at the DeKalb Oasis on I-88 (the side of road plaza, not over) where traffic can "turn around"  or basically get back on I-88 from the direction they entered the plaza

I don't know why that gate isn't always open. I-88 isn't a Ticket system - who cares if you Enter and Exit the Oasis from/to the East or from/to the West?

[deathtopumpkins]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads? You can't get to the gas stations (though I guess you could walk back and forth with a can if you really needed to) but the employee parking lots have signs saying that customers can use them as well. I'm sure they don't get a lot of business that way, but some of them are out in the sticks where there aren't many other businesses, so it might be of use to the locals occasionally.

MA allows public access to at least some plazas from off the Turnpike, somewhat prominently signing it: https://goo.gl/maps/9Hc5Mw5v6PTDfZwG6 / https://goo.gl/maps/jRbcKL7CPciY611L6

New Hampshire does as well: https://goo.gl/maps/uJXTAdBbQtcr87E69 (which is important primarily because the service plazas include state liquor stores)

[NWI_Irish96]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads? You can't get to the gas stations (though I guess you could walk back and forth with a can if you really needed to) but the employee parking lots have signs saying that customers can use them as well. I'm sure they don't get a lot of business that way, but some of them are out in the sticks where there aren't many other businesses, so it might be of use to the locals occasionally.

Each plaza in Indiana has signs on the surface road access stating "Restaurant customers only."  I don't know if that means employees are required to use the toll road to get to work or if it's just implied in the sign that employees can use surface road access.

[1995hoo]

Do any states other than Ohio explicitly allow public access to the facilities from surface roads? You can't get to the gas stations (though I guess you could walk back and forth with a can if you really needed to) but the employee parking lots have signs saying that customers can use them as well. I'm sure they don't get a lot of business that way, but some of them are out in the sticks where there aren't many other businesses, so it might be of use to the locals occasionally.

The West Gardiner service plaza in Maine is an unusual beast in that it's located off a local road and accessed via a roundabout, such that anyone on the local road can access it. Because access requires exiting the Maine Turnpike, there is a system whereby exiting traffic gets credited the difference in the toll rate. E-ZPass users get credited automatically; cash users must request a receipt at the toll plaza prior to exiting the highway.

[briantroutman]

Regarding Pennsylvania, I've always assumed that accessing a service plaza via the service/employee entrance wasn't illegal per se, even if the practice wasn't officially condoned by the PTC. At the very least, even if doing so was technically prohibited, I doubt you'd be cited by the state police unless you made a major nuisance of yourself (like harassing plaza employees, blocking driveways/gates, or attempting to illegally enter the Turnpike). I've accessed various service plazas via the service entrance over the years, and I've never been stopped or questioned, even when state troopers were nearby.

My impression of the PTC's permissive attitude was formed in significant part by the signage posted at the service entrance of the Allentown plaza when I lived in the Lehigh Valley around 2003-2004. At that time, the service driveway entrance at Cetronia Road was posted with a billboard-sized sign bearing the logos of the restaurants at the plaza (which at the time included Bob's Big Boy, Roy Rogers, and a few others) and an arrow pointing down the driveway. So I assumed the plaza operator was trying to attract some local business. And as I recall, I didn't encounter any "Employees Only"  or similar prohibitive signage. In fact, I seem to remember that the employee parking area was posted with something like "Limit 1 Hour Except Employees" –essentially admitting that non-employees (i.e. plaza visitors) were allowed to park there.

When the plaza was completely rebuilt a few years later, the sign was replaced to reflect the logos of the updated plaza restaurant lineup. (Hopefully this 2008 Street View link works: https://goo.gl/maps/QuUhzs469GhGpEK89) By 2011, that sign had a "Delivery/Employee Entrance"  panel appended beneath–perhaps suggesting that this plaza driveway was somewhat less than completely open to the public. (https://goo.gl/maps/Pyf544f6NvDMsRVY7) Then last year, the main sign with restaurant logos was removed, leaving only the "Delivery/Employee Entrance"  panel. And the PTC had also installed a freestanding "Private Roadway"  regulatory sign which is their standard practice at maintenance access points and the like. (https://goo.gl/maps/vUjjiri9JqKiZnSG8)

I'm curious as to what prompted this change. Clearly, incremental actions have been taken in the past nine years, but I have a tough time imagining what could have happened to prompt the gradually stricter stance. Still, I'd have no qualms about visiting a service plaza (as a pedestrian) via the service entrance.