New York State Thruway

[cl94]

Well, this is news: all Thruway rest areas will be renovated or rebuilt in 2021-22

The New York Thruway Authority gave the green light on a contract with Empire State Thruway Partners to upgrade the state's 27 service areas Tuesday. Twenty-three of the service areas will be rebuilt and four will get significant upgrades.

The 33-year contract will see an investment of $450 million from Empire State Thruway partners to provide greater food service and amenities for travelers. The plan also includes greater access to amenities for commercial truck drivers. It will also focus on promoting local tourism through I Love N.Y. /Taste N.Y. and be dedicated to using environmentally conscious infrastructure like solar panels and rainwater collection to be used in irrigation.

...

Phase one of the project is scheduled to begin with the renovation of 16 service areas next year. The remaining 11 service areas are scheduled to be renovated in phase two beginning in 2023. The Thruway Authority said renovations will be spread out so that no two consecutive areas will be closed during the process. Built in the 1950s, the last time service areas saw notable improvements were in the 1990s, according to the Thruway Authority.

Proposed changes to service areas:
Most buildings will be able to be accessed from both parking lots and fuel stations
Exterior seating, picnic/play/pet walking areas with comfort stations
Taste N.Y. farmers markets
Business centers
Call ahead ordering, kiosks and drive-thru service at most locations
Technologically advanced building maintenance systems

Additional changes at certain locations:
Proposed virtual welcome and tourism centers, virtual thruway assistance, and travel counselors
Food trucks and other seasonal offerings
Enclosed climate-controlled pet areas
Private area for nursing mothers

Changes to commercial trucking areas:
Increase truck parking at service areas system-wide by 150 parking spaces
Shower and laundry facilities
Fitness center
Healthy snacks

[Buffaboy]

Yeah I just read that, big news. I really hope they add a variety of restaurants in during this time and not the standard fare of McDonalds and Roy Rogers.

[Roadrunner75]

Yeah I just read that, big news. I really hope they add a variety of restaurants in during this time and not the standard fare of McDonalds and Roy Rogers.

Be careful what you wish for.  They are reconstructing rest areas on the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway in NJ right now and trying to "upgrade" the offerings.  But the only real food place at the reconstructed Monmouth Rest Area on the GSP is the overpriced and overrated Shake Shack.  The only other options are a Starbucks and an Auntie Anne's.  So I can wait forever to get a small expensive burger or I can grab a pretzel.  Great.

[vdeane]

I'm going to be quite disappointed if Sbarro goes.  I've always enjoyed stopping there, and the Sloatsburg and Chittenango locations have been convenient in the past.  I also enjoyed the Pizza Hut Express in Ulster, but it hasn't been convenient for me since I moved to the Capital District.

Regarding the visualizations, it's amazing how unrealistic they look right now due to the lack of social distancing and face masks in them.  My, how the world changes fast.  I do wonder about business travel, though (there are a couple of people in suits in one).  Businesses aren't going to pay people to travel if the job function can be done just as effectively remotely.

[seicer]

The showers will be a nice benefit. There are not a lot of truck stops in the northeast for car campers (like myself) where you can easily grab showers.

[empirestate]

Well, this is news: all Thruway rest areas will be renovated or rebuilt in 2021-22

I feel like they just did this...but as the article points out, that was (apparently) way back in the 90s.

[jp the roadgeek]

Yeah I just read that, big news. I really hope they add a variety of restaurants in during this time and not the standard fare of McDonalds and Roy Rogers.

I don't exactly consider Roy Rogers standard fare anymore, seeing that the nearest ones to me are the ones on the Thruway.  That being said, now we know what Cuomo plans to do with some of the stimulus $$ 

[webny99]

Right now, I'd be so happy just to get the chance to use the Thruway, period, that I don't think I'd notice or care if the service areas remained exactly how they are for another 10 years.

But it is still cool that they're upgrading them. Between that and AET, the overall Thruway experience should be quite modernized in the post-COVID-19 era.

[Jim]

That being said, now we know what Cuomo plans to do with some of the stimulus $$ 

The article I read (behind the Daily Gazette paywall: https://dailygazette.com/article/2020/05/13/contract-awarded-to-rebuild-thruway-rest-areas-27-to-be-refurbished-reconstructed) suggests this is private investment, so not any stimulus money.

[Alps]

That being said, now we know what Cuomo plans to do with some of the stimulus $$ 

The article I read (behind the Daily Gazette paywall: https://dailygazette.com/article/2020/05/13/contract-awarded-to-rebuild-thruway-rest-areas-27-to-be-refurbished-reconstructed) suggests this is private investment, so not any stimulus money.

The Thruway should be self-supporting without the need for state public money.

[cl94]

The Thruway upgrades are a P3. Private investment to rebuild them in exchange for a 33-year operating license.

[RobbieL2415]

It's good to renovate the service plazas.  They haven't been spruced up in 25 years or so, at least going by the dedication placards.

I would hope the contractor adds a healthier restaurant to the mix, like a Panera or something.

I say, drop TCBY but keep McD, BK and RR.

Every single plaza should have either a Dunkin Donuts or Tim Hortons, too.

[shadyjay]

I remember when they were being rehabbed in the early 90s.  The Thruway newsletter back then, "The Interchange" mentioned it.  We went on a family road trip out to Niagara Falls c 1992-1993, covering the Thruway from Albany to Buffalo.  (where was my camera back then?).

I would like them to keep the Roy Rogers, as you really don't find them around much anymore... at least not in New England. 

[GenExpwy]

Well, this is news: all Thruway rest areas will be renovated or rebuilt in 2021-22

The New York Thruway Authority gave the green light on a contract with Empire State Thruway Partners to upgrade the state's 27 service areas Tuesday. Twenty-three of the service areas will be rebuilt and four will get significant upgrades.

Which four are not getting torn down?

[Buffaboy]

Yeah I just read that, big news. I really hope they add a variety of restaurants in during this time and not the standard fare of McDonalds and Roy Rogers.

Be careful what you wish for.  They are reconstructing rest areas on the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway in NJ right now and trying to "upgrade" the offerings.  But the only real food place at the reconstructed Monmouth Rest Area on the GSP is the overpriced and overrated Shake Shack.  The only other options are a Starbucks and an Auntie Anne's.  So I can wait forever to get a small expensive burger or I can grab a pretzel.  Great.

Yeah I should have clarified that. I think a mix would be nice, we still need chains like McDonalds on the road in case we don't want to spend $20 on a burger (I probably wouldn't). So yes, I agree 100%.

[empirestate]

That being said, now we know what Cuomo plans to do with some of the stimulus $$ 

The article I read (behind the Daily Gazette paywall: https://dailygazette.com/article/2020/05/13/contract-awarded-to-rebuild-thruway-rest-areas-27-to-be-refurbished-reconstructed) suggests this is private investment, so not any stimulus money.

Also, something tells me this plan rather predates the prospect of stimulus money, or even the pandemic as a whole.

[vdeane]

It does.  I distinctly remember this being talked on Facebook (in the roadgeek groups and/or the Thruway's own page) months if not a year or two ago.

[cl94]

They've been talking about service area renovations for at least a year. Definitely early 2019, if not earlier, with talk about using P3 or tourism funds even back then.

[astralentity]

http://archive.is/WI01X

This came up on my feed today.  With everything else going on, its somehow a priority to rename the Thruway?   

[lstone19]

http://archive.is/WI01X

This came up on my feed today.  With everything else going on, its somehow a priority to rename the Thruway?   

Seems like a big "don't care" to most of us. I've never referred to it as the "Dewey Thruway" so why would I start calling it the "Douglass Thruway"? It's the "New York Thruway" or just "Thruway" when the NY context is obvious.

[webny99]

Yeah, it would be just a publicity stunt more than anything. No one's going to actually call it anything other than "Thruway", so it's not that big of a deal either way.

[hbelkins]

Why does it need to be renamed? Can't they find something else to name for him? I've never heard of Dewey's name being mentioned in negative connotations like Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee, who are having highways un-named for them.

[astralentity]

Yeah, it would be just a publicity stunt more than anything. No one's going to actually call it anything other than "Thruway", so it's not that big of a deal either way.

Like how I still say Tappan Zee, even though all the signs have been changed to say "Mario M. Cuomo Bridge".  And you gotta have the middle initial in there, or else!

This is kinda why I liked Larry Sharpe's idea of granting naming and partial maintenance rights to businesses.  I get sick of naming and paying for the naming of infrastructure items after politicians.

[kalvado]

Why does it need to be renamed? Can't they find something else to name for him? I've never heard of Dewey's name being mentioned in negative connotations like Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee, who are having highways un-named for them.

It could be worse.  I expected new name to be Gov. Mario Cuomo Thruway

[webny99]

Can't they find something else to name for him?

FWIW, the I-490 bridge in Downtown Rochester is already named for him.