Service Areas on toll roads accessible from other roads

[hbelkins]

The Ohio Turnpike is the same way. I've eaten at the Erie Islands service plaza (mm 100) a few times by parking in the employee lot. I don't remember if there was any signage about it being employees only, and never had any issue. No idea what the Turnpike's official stance is on that.

I can't see why they'd turn down business. Diners are diners, whether they're traveling on the turnpike or are local residents, and their money is just as green.

[NE2]

Vauxhall doesn't count as a toll-beater NB because you could get out for free at the prior exit.

But doesn't this also apply to Cheesequake? You can get off for free at Matawan Road, or stay on and get off at the service plaza. Sure, it's an additional several miles for no extra toll, but that just means there's another short GSP section with no tolls.

[1995hoo]

The Maine Welcome Center on I-95 NB in Kittery has full access to/from US-1.  Fully signed and everything. 

I may be mistaken, but I believe it's not a toll road there.

[briantroutman]

Vauxhall doesn't count as a toll-beater NB because you could get out for free at the prior exit.

But doesn't this also apply to Cheesequake?

The GSP tolls are much more complicated than I ever would have imagined–like the toll road equivalent of the federal tax code. There's any number of combinations of entry and exit that avoid paying any toll–some farther than others. For example, you could enter at Matawan Rd. (Exit 120) and drive all the way to Holmdel (Exit 116) without encountering a single barrier or ramp toll. But if you exit at the earlier Aberdeen interchange (Exit 117A) you will pay a toll.

Looks like fertile ground for someone to develop a "Jersey Cheapskate" app that not only calculates your route but can adjust it to take advantage of all tolling loopholes.

[Joe The Dragon]

The West Gardiner Service Plaza in Maine is located off a local road. You exit the Maine Turnpike (or I-295) to reach it.

The thing I wondered about when I read about that plaza is their toll voucher system. It's located north of a Turnpike toll barrier. If you're using the Turnpike northbound, you go through the barrier, exit to the service plaza, then enter northbound I-295, go through another toll barrier, and re-enter the Turnpike. If you're using the Turnpike southbound, you do that in reverse. Either way, you have to go through two toll barriers. So they have a system to avoid that. E-ZPass users don't get charged at the second plaza as long as they pass through within a certain time. Cash users obtain a voucher at the toll plaza; the articles I saw said there were to be machines dispensing the vouchers (presumably to reduce the hassle for employees). See here for one of the articles: http://www.mrlakefront.net/newsprint.taf?news_id=773  The Maine Turnpike Authority website also mentioned vouchers.

What I wondered about was how they avoided abuses of this system. Since the service area is off a local road, couldn't anyone go to the machine, get a voucher, and drive free on the Turnpike? Apparently the Maine Turnpike Authority must have had the same question, because it seems they've changed the system: According to the Turnpike Authority's website, a cash-payer who wishes to use the service plaza now must request two copies of a receipt when paying the toll and must then hand the yellow copy of the receipt to the toll-taker at the other plaza. The voucher system is gone. I think this is new within the past two years because when we discussed this in another thread in 2011, the Turnpike Authority's site still mentioned the vouchers.

(All this begs the question of why most people would be making that movement anyway, as it is more direct and generally faster to take I-295 instead of the Turnpike. People using I-295 can access the service plaza but face no issue as to double tolling. Obviously some of us might use the longer Turnpike route for clinch reasons or the like, but the general public has never heard of nor cares about the concept of clinching a highway!)

You can see old grading there and the toll is under an old removed ramp.

[Alps]

Vauxhall doesn't count as a toll-beater NB because you could get out for free at the prior exit.

But doesn't this also apply to Cheesequake? You can get off for free at Matawan Road, or stay on and get off at the service plaza. Sure, it's an additional several miles for no extra toll, but that just means there's another short GSP section with no tolls.

NB, it applies. SB, it's the first entrance for several miles and by far the easiest access from 9.

I thought there were places where you could use the GSP accesses to avoid a toll, but a quick look turns up nothing. They can be used as "secret entrances" however, e.g. from Belmar Boulevard in Wall or Bordentown Avenue in South Amboy. The latter more or less counts, but it's really only a free section from Matawan Road, where there are no ramp tolls. (And per the Goog it's signed "official use and academy parking only", but maybe you can exit there.)

But the GSP toll structure is all fucked up post-one-way tolling.

I'm not sure if it is by design, but, each county along the GSP has one toll plaza.

Doesn't Bergen have two? Doesn't Passaic have zero?

[NE2]

Vauxhall doesn't count as a toll-beater NB because you could get out for free at the prior exit.

But doesn't this also apply to Cheesequake? You can get off for free at Matawan Road, or stay on and get off at the service plaza. Sure, it's an additional several miles for no extra toll, but that just means there's another short GSP section with no tolls.

NB, it applies. SB, it's the first entrance for several miles and by far the easiest access from 9.

Cheesequake southbound is just the inverse of northbound at Vauxhall: you get on from the plaza for free, but you could get on at the next entrance instead. Yes, it does allow you to use a piece of the GSP for free that you otherwise wouldn't be able to, but that's also true at Vauxhall; it's just much less useful in the latter case. (It might be the best way to go from 82 west to Oakland Avenue, since it avoids crossing from left to right on US 22 east.)

[WNYroadgeek]

All of the Thruway's service areas have surface road access. Examples:

Angola: http://goo.gl/maps/eADaH
Clarence: http://goo.gl/maps/kjPHu
Pembroke: http://goo.gl/maps/F25tX
Ontario: http://goo.gl/maps/irOLv
Scottsville: http://goo.gl/maps/IiJeQ

[briantroutman]

It seems to me the better question would be: What service areas are completely inaccessible from local roads?

Many of the plaza-in-median facilities would likely qualify. Delaware's lone plaza is one of these, but since it's almost immediately adjacent to an interchange with toll-free access, it's still very easy to get to. Maryland's plazas are similar, but the Chesapeake House plaza is between two exits that are about 6.5 miles apart–though still accessible toll-free. I would imagine some of the Florida and Oklahoma median plazas would be similar. All of the median plazas I can think of, though, allow U-turns–with some of them being non-ticket systems.

Somewhat related: I seem to recall reading about a former Howard Johnson's that was awkwardly wedged into a median or in the gore area (or something like that) of a Boston area freeway. Sound familiar to anyone?

[Beeper1]

Yes.  It was on the southbound side of I-93/MA-3 in Quincy, just before the Braintree split.  It wasn't in the median, but was tightly spaced between the adjacent properties along the highway in that densely populated area.  I have heard that the only reason it was built on such an urban, non-tolled freeway, was that Quincy was where HoJo's first started.  I don't know if this area just had a restaurant or if it also had fuel. Historic Areals doesn't seem to show a gas station, just one building for the restaurant.   I think it closed when the expressway was rebuilt in the early 80s.  The place was completely demolished and the land sold off to private development not connected to the highway, with no evidence of it left on the ground.

Both of the service areas on the I-95 part of 128 used to be Howard Johnsons, and they are both wedged into larger interchanges.  The Lexington area is within the N-E quadrant of the MA-2A cloverleaf, and the Newton plaza is within the connecting ramps between the Grove Street and MA-16 interchanges.   

[theline]

To answer your second question first, no, you can't use them to enter or exit the toll road. These lots are gated off from the rest of the service area parking lot, and there's usually a marked pedestrian crosswalk going from the employee parking lot to the service plaza building. There are vehicular gates so that state police, delivery trucks, maintenance vehicles, etc. can access the main parking area, but these are locked under normal circumstances.

As to whether they're open to the public–that's what I was wondering. I've never seen a sign that says "Employees Only". I doubt they mind.

The Ohio Turnpike is the same way. I've eaten at the Erie Islands service plaza (mm 100) a few times by parking in the employee lot. I don't remember if there was any signage about it being employees only, and never had any issue. No idea what the Turnpike's official stance is on that.

I'm amazed that anyone would choose to eat in a service area. I've never caught myself saying, "These cold, overpriced burger and fries are so good, I'm going to find a way to eat here again. I don't care if I'm driving on the turnpike or not, I've got to get me more of this!"

My experience has been that turnpike food is about convenience, not fine dining. So, now let's hear from everyone who thinks turnpike food is worth going out of the way to get.

[renegade]

not a toll road, but you can access I-80 from US-6 via the Melia Hill rest area in Nebraska.

http://goo.gl/maps/siyLW

Nope.  I've been to that one.  The access road from the ramp goes back only to the fence.  It does not connect to the road leading to 234th street.

There's a handwritten sign in the display case along with the state map which says, "One day in Nebraska, the wind stopped blowing, and all the people fell down."

   

[briantroutman]

I'm amazed that anyone would choose to eat in a service area....So, now let's hear from everyone who thinks turnpike food is worth going out of the way to get.

As far as a culinary experience, no, I don't think anyone would specially seek out a service plaza. The menu selection, food quality, and prices are usually less than stellar. But I couldn't say that my experiences at service plazas have been universally bad. Most have been reasonably good. And I've certainly had worse at freestanding locations off the turnpikes.

Sometimes plazas will offer something that isn't available locally. When I lived in the Lehigh Valley, the Allentown Service Plaza had the only Roy Rogers or Big Boy in 100+ miles.

But the bigger attraction–I think for roadgeeks, anyway–is the opportunity to have a small taste of being out on the road, even in your own town. It's kind of like how people used to visit their local airport's full service restaurant and casually watch planes take off and land while they ate. At a service plaza, you can watch the interstate traffic go by.

[Mr. Matté]

Getting back to the G.S. Parkway, I made this diagram a couple of years ago detailing where you can get on/off without paying a toll. I'm assuming the service area movements are all still intact though Steve said that it's been gated off so the free southbound exit may not be possible.

[Buck87]

I'm amazed that anyone would choose to eat in a service area. I've never caught myself saying, "These cold, overpriced burger and fries are so good, I'm going to find a way to eat here again. I don't care if I'm driving on the turnpike or not, I've got to get me more of this!"

My experience has been that turnpike food is about convenience, not fine dining. So, now let's hear from everyone who thinks turnpike food is worth going out of the way to get.

In my case it was more of a "You mean to say that the giant overpriced slices of pizza that are otherwise only available at mall food courts 50+ miles away can actually be enjoyed after just a 10 mile drive from my house?"

plus a little bit of this factor...

But the bigger attraction–I think for roadgeeks, anyway–is the opportunity to have a small taste of being out on the road, even in your own town.

I haven't actually gone there in several years, but now all this talk about it has me wanting to do it again. My dad worked for the phone company and would occasionally eat at the service plazas if it was the closest food option to where he was working that day, so that's how I found out about the idea of going to them. He found out about their local accessibility when working on the phone lines there.

[hbelkins]

Rare are the occasions when I've eaten at a turnpike service area when I've stopped. Usually the stop is for a restroom break, and I have gotten gas at a few of them if I needed to. In my experience, the lines are usually pretty long and I don't have the patience to wait.

I do remember at least one McDonald's at a service plaza in Oklahoma that had a drive-through with no line, so I got food there.

Are there any service areas that have hotels?  Seems like that is a business opportunity that is ripe for the capturing.

[Mr_Northside]

The Ohio Turnpike is the same way. I've eaten at the Erie Islands service plaza (mm 100) a few times by parking in the employee lot. I don't remember if there was any signage about it being employees only, and never had any issue. No idea what the Turnpike's official stance is on that.

I can't see why they'd turn down business. Diners are diners, whether they're traveling on the turnpike or are local residents, and their money is just as green.

The only reason I could think of that they might discourage it is in situations where the local/non-turnpike lot is small enough that they don't want to risk running out of parking for employees.

[briantroutman]

Are there any service areas that have hotels?  Seems like that is a business opportunity that is ripe for the capturing.

Lodging facilities are common at Autobahnraststätte in Germany, but I haven't seen that the same is true in most other European nations.

You would think that overnight accommodations would be a natural success at service plazas–both in remote areas where the next exit may be many miles, as well on the outskirts of urban areas where a traveler might want to make a quick stopover without losing time on local roads. But I can't think of anywhere in the US where lodging has been available at toll road service areas (with a couple of exceptions.

Probably the closest equivalent would be motels at private travel plazas like TA and Petro.  But even those–many of which were branded as Daystops or Rodeway Inns–haven't been successful and are disappearing. Despite what would seem to be convenience, travelers must have some resistance to the concept of stopping, eating, refueling, and staying under one roof.

The two exceptions:

The South Midway Service Plaza along the PA Turnpike originally had a dormitory on its second floor. All I accounts I have read indicate that the dormitory was "for truckers", but I don't know if that was just the intention or an enforced regulation. I don't have any information on when the upper floor was closed, but it appears to have been within the first couple of decades.

I read once about a Howard Johnson's somewhere–for some reason, I think it was an Illinois toll road–where a HJ Motor Lodge was located outside the service area fence but adjacent to it (and with pedestrian access). So you could stop off for dinner, ask the restaurant cashier about a room, and then walk to your accommodations while your car remained parked.

[vdeane]

I don't think you'd see lodging at NY service areas.  For one thing, there's a four hour maximum you can stay.

[Marc_in_CT]

There was a service plaza on I-30 in TX with a Howard Johnson's Restaurant and Hotel.  It was also accessible from the local roads.
http://www.highwayhost.org/Texas/Arlington/arlington1.html

It looks like the location is no longer a service plaza, and is now only accessible from the local roads.  It was still a HoJo's at the time of the street view pic.  The WB service plaza looks to be re-purposed as construction storage.

[briantroutman]

There was a service plaza on I-30 in TX with a Howard Johnson's Restaurant and Hotel.

I'm pretty sure that's the one I was trying to remember. Odd that the only service area to offer this kind of "long-haul" feature would be on a 30-mile toll road that stays within the same metro. I don't really know much about the DFW Turnpike–was it even a closed-ticket system?

[Beeper1]

Not at a service plaza, but the only on-turnpike Hotel I know of is in Maine.  There is a Ramada Hotel in Saco that has direct access ramps to/from the NB lanes of the turnpike.  It used to have ramps for the SB lanes as well, but the overpass was removed when the highway was widened in the 90s. 

The ramps were part of the original Saco interchange.  After I-195 opened a few miles away, this interchange closed and the hotel was built on the site of the old toll plaza.  Uniquely, they got permission to reopen the old ramps as access for the hotel for travelers.  There are separate parking lots for traffic from the turnpike and traffic from the local roads so that the hotel can't be used as a secret entrance to the highway.

It's a fairly nice hotel, and the only one I can think of in the US directly on an interstate.

[bzakharin]

It seems to me the better question would be: What service areas are completely inaccessible from local roads?

Clearly not everywhere. I've never seen that situation firsthand. I'm quite sure that none of the NJ Turnpike ones have them. Neither does the Atlantic City Expressway nor the Delaware Turnpike. I don't recall ever using any GS Parkway Service Areas. I've only ever frequented the portions of that road between exit 4 and 10, between 36 and 38, and between 129 and 135, all free (at least along the Parkway itself) and only one set of service areas (approaching exit 135 from the south), and those have no outside access. I *have* been on most of the Parkway at one time or another, excluding portions between exits 38 and 98, and north of 159, but never used any of the facilities.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky had three service areas, all in the medians of toll roads. There were two on the Kentucky Turnpike. I was only familiar with the one at Shepherdsville, since my dad's siblings all lived there. There was no local access and there would have been a toll charge for anyone going there since there was a toll at the KY 44 exit (a quarter to enter or exit). I don't remember anything about the service area near Elizabethtown. They no longer exist.

The service area on the WK Parkway still exists. I stop there just about every time I travel the road for a restroom break. There is no local access, but access to it was free because it's just east of the US 231 exit.

[Alps]

The one reason to go out of your way to a rest area: If you're a Roy Rogers fan in NJ.