Busiest / Least Busy Service Areas

[Beeper1]

What do you think are the busiest / least busy service areas in each state that has them?

In Mass I would think one of the Charlton plazas on I-90 would be busiest.  Not really sure what's the least used, possibly the one on 128 in Beverly.

[Brandon]

For Illinois, the least busy would have to be the DeKalb Oasis on I-88.  The busiest would be one of these three, Des Plaines Oasis on I-90, Lincoln Oasis on I-80/294, or the O'Hare Oasis on I-294.

[Pete from Boston]

The Darien rest area on the northbound CT Turnpike is often mobbed. On days with heavy, slow traffic, folks coming from the city have often been sitting in traffic an hour or more, and it's a logical rest point.  I don't know how the parking actually compares to the old one, but I have seen this new one's lot completely full on a couple of Sundays already this summer.

[formulanone]

For the slower ones along Florida's Turnpike, it's likely the Okahumpka Plaza and the Snapper Creek Plaza. The first one is only 15 miles from FL 44, which has nearly every type of roadside amenities one can think of. Okahumpka is the smallest rest area (my guess is that it will be the last one to be "upgraded"). Snapper Creek is located along a rather populated area that isn't isolated from any other exits...can't say I've ever had any reason to use it, as Florida City/Homestead is just another 19 miles away. Fort Drum is almost always packed, and so is Turkey Lake, since there's little to nothing along that 90 mile stretch, and the pickings along Yeehaw Junction are quite slim.

The rest stops along the Interstates aren't much; save the ones near Florida's borders. Otherwise, they're just restrooms and vending machines. There used to be a few more along I-95, but the smaller ones have disappeared. They have lots of picnic tables, if you pack your own meals.

[ET21]

For Illinois, the least busy would have to be the DeKalb Oasis on I-88.  The busiest would be one of these three, Des Plaines Oasis on I-90, Lincoln Oasis on I-80/294, or the O'Hare Oasis on I-294.

Hinsdale is up and down, depends on if it's a holiday weekend (like now) or during rush hour.
DeKalb has actually gotten busier with truck traffic mainly.

[jfs1988]

 :hmmm:The Boron Rest Area along California State Route 58 seems to have low usage. The rest area is located in the Mojave Desert near the Kern/San Bernardino County Line & north of Edwards Air Force Base. Many travelers would rather stop at the truck stops at Barstow, Kramer Junction, Mojave, or Tehachapi. Also, many would rather travel through the Grapevine. One night, I was the only one in that rest area. The rest area was also very clean.

[hotdogPi]

I have not been to much of New York, but the ones on I-88 seem to have very few people. Some of them are even closed.

(Someone else mentioned the other I-88 )

[cpzilliacus]

It is currently closed for reconstruction, but the Maryland House on I-95 (JFK Highway) in  Harford County has long been considered one of the busiest and most profitable turnpike service plazas in  the  U.S.

Perhaps because it is the last one headed south and the first one headed north, and a lot of people schedule a stop there.

[empirestate]

I have not been to much of New York, but the ones on I-88 seem to have very few people. Some of them are even closed.

(Someone else mentioned the other I-88 )

No service areas on I-88; they only exist on the Thruway or grandfathered in on the NYC-area expressways and parkways. What you get on the free Interstates are only rest areas.

As for busiest, Thruway-wise if not statewide it's got to be Sloatsburg/Ramapo. In particular, whichever is the southbound one (I can never remember) would be the busy one, although they are actually connected by a pedestrian bridge and there's a parking garage on the northbound side.

For off-Thruway service areas, I don't frequent enough of them to judge, but the one on the Hutchinson River Parkway seems to get a lot of use.

[SP Cook]

WV only has four on its Turnpike.  The original three from the two lane era, where one could use them in either direction by making a left turn across traffic.  None really serve a purpose, as the road is only 88 miles long, there is no extra toll to exit and re-enter, and there are plenty of private businesses on the side. 

Two ended up northbound only.  The Bluestone, which is just 8 miles from the south end is by far the least busy.  So much so that its food service was downgraded to a c-store.  Scamarack / Beckley, despite losing $1M per month when accounted for correctly, is by far the busiest.  It is the only one with a ramp to access it from the other side.

[briantroutman]

Cove Valley–dead as a doornail. I've never seen anyone in that one.

But seriously, on the mainline of the PA Turnpike, the old Plainfield Service Plaza always seemed particularly slow to me. Sometimes at night, I would be the only customer in there. The plaza was renamed Cumberland Valley after being reconstructed, and I haven't been there in several years, so I don't know if this is still the case. I would guess that the stretch of the turnpike between Carlisle and Breezewood has the lowest traffic volume (with I-70 siphoning off south-and-east traffic, I-81 taking away south-and-west traffic). That, plus the "we're almost to Carlisle/Harrisburg" effect, the lack of a Starbucks (until reconstruction) and the relative unpopularity of Roy Rogers probably all contributed to the lack of customers.

[SteveG1988]

Cove Valley–dead as a doornail. I've never seen anyone in that one.

But seriously, on the mainline of the PA Turnpike, the old Plainfield Service Plaza always seemed particularly slow to me. Sometimes at night, I would be the only customer in there. The plaza was renamed Cumberland Valley after being reconstructed, and I haven't been there in several years, so I don't know if this is still the case. I would guess that the stretch of the turnpike between Carlisle and Breezewood has the lowest traffic volume (with I-70 siphoning off south-and-east traffic, I-81 taking away south-and-west traffic). That, plus the "we're almost to Carlisle/Harrisburg" effect, the lack of a Starbucks (until reconstruction) and the relative unpopularity of Roy Rogers probably all contributed to the lack of customers.

Neshaminy Plazas were probably the ones least likely to be visited for gas, as you were close to NJ which had cheaper gas, or were just getting onto the road and bought gas before you got on for westbound

[cpzilliacus]

WV only has four on its Turnpike.  The original three from the two lane era, where one could use them in either direction by making a left turn across traffic.

Wow.  Wonder how many wrecks resulted from that? 

None really serve a purpose, as the road is only 88 miles long, there is no extra toll to exit and re-enter, and there are plenty of private businesses on the side.

Though I presume that the service plazas are required to pay rent to the state - right? 

Two ended up northbound only.  The Bluestone, which is just 8 miles from the south end is by far the least busy.  So much so that its food service was downgraded to a c-store.  Scamarack / Beckley, despite losing $1M per month when accounted for correctly, is by far the busiest.  It is the only one with a ramp to access it from the other side.

Scamarack?  Please elaborate.  Do they charge excessive prices there? 

[jeffandnicole]

It is currently closed for reconstruction, but the Maryland House on I-95 (JFK Highway) in  Harford County has long been considered one of the busiest and most profitable turnpike service plazas in  the  U.S.

Perhaps because it is the last one headed south and the first one headed north, and a lot of people schedule a stop there.

In my days of working Interchange 1 of the NJ Turnpike, a frequent question was "How far to the Maryland House".  I can't recall a single instance where someone wanted the distance to the Chesapeake House.  Even the service plaza in Delaware was rarely asked about.

[1995hoo]

It is currently closed for reconstruction, but the Maryland House on I-95 (JFK Highway) in  Harford County has long been considered one of the busiest and most profitable turnpike service plazas in  the  U.S.

Perhaps because it is the last one headed south and the first one headed north, and a lot of people schedule a stop there.

In my days of working Interchange 1 of the NJ Turnpike, a frequent question was "How far to the Maryland House".  I can't recall a single instance where someone wanted the distance to the Chesapeake House.  Even the service plaza in Delaware was rarely asked about.

Funny. My grandfather always stopped at the Chesapeake House and he got mad at my grandmother if she forgot to remind him when they were approaching it.

[Mr. Matté]

In my days of working Interchange 1 of the NJ Turnpike, a frequent question was "How far to the Maryland House".  I can't recall a single instance where someone wanted the distance to the Chesapeake House.  Even the service plaza in Delaware was rarely asked about.

Why not reply, "Turn around and use the rest area you just passed?" Stop giving away business to Maryland.

[1995hoo]

In my days of working Interchange 1 of the NJ Turnpike, a frequent question was "How far to the Maryland House".  I can't recall a single instance where someone wanted the distance to the Chesapeake House.  Even the service plaza in Delaware was rarely asked about.

Why not reply, "Turn around and use the rest area you just passed?" Stop giving away business to Maryland.

The Jersey Turnpike encouraging someone to make a U-turn??!!!! 

[agentsteel53]

The Jersey Turnpike encouraging someone to make a U-turn??!!!! 

wouldn't that result in the maximum toll collected?

[1995hoo]

The Jersey Turnpike encouraging someone to make a U-turn??!!!! 

wouldn't that result in the maximum toll collected?

Technically not in the situation hypothesized here because the toll would have already been paid. It would generate at least one more toll transaction, though, if the person actually did turn around and go back (getting a new toll ticket in the process).

When I was a kid we sometimes made the lunch stop at the Howard Johnson's that used to be located next to the Exit 1 toll plaza. My father hated stopping for lunch at the Jersey Turnpike service areas. Once the Howard Johnson's closed he was happy to stop at the Delaware Turnpike plaza, though.

[cpzilliacus]

When I was a kid we sometimes made the lunch stop at the Howard Johnson's that used to be located next to the Exit 1 toll plaza. My father hated stopping for lunch at the Jersey Turnpike service areas. Once the Howard Johnson's closed he was happy to stop at the Delaware Turnpike plaza, though.

The new service plaza on the Delaware Turnpike is very nice.  My only gripe about the place has to do with slow service in the C-store.  I wanted a cold drink, but it seemed like ever passenger on a visiting tour bus wanted tickets from the Delaware Lottery, and the girl behind the counter was not very experienced at that - and every patron had to have an extensive discussion about what kind of lottery ticket they desired. 

I am confident that the new Maryland House will be nice.

In general, the reconstructed service plazas on the Pennsylvania and Ohio Turnpikes have turned out well, but in my opinion, the nicest ones I have seen recently are on the Connecticut Turnpike.  Reasonable design inside and out, the Mobil gas stations seem designed to accommodate a lot of customer traffic - and the C-stores sell (New York MTA) E-ZPass transponders (maybe for the day when tolling returns to the Connecticut Turnpike?).

[Alps]

In NJ, the Vince Lombardi is the busiest Turnpike service area. Cheesequake is the busiest on the Parkway, and while it overall sees far less traffic because there are no trucks on the road, it likely has the highest peak traffic as people head to and from the shore in the summer. (I've seen Cheesequake far busier than any other service area anywhere that I've ever been to.) As for the least busy in NJ, there are a couple of scenic areas on I-80, but those are STILL probably better traveled than the picnic grove on the southern Parkway ("Shoemaker Holly", apparently?). Ocean View would win least-used service area with actual services.

[Pete from Boston]

In general, the reconstructed service plazas on the Pennsylvania and Ohio Turnpikes have turned out well, but in my opinion, the nicest ones I have seen recently are on the Connecticut Turnpike.  Reasonable design inside and out, the Mobil gas stations seem designed to accommodate a lot of customer traffic - and the C-stores sell (New York MTA) E-ZPass transponders (maybe for the day when tolling returns to the Connecticut Turnpike?).

They are nice.  Milford North is so far the only one south of New Haven to break the mold in terms of design (by mimicking the old setup, ironically).  It also is the only one with something clearly marketed as healthy, which I suspect is a test before further deployment. 

A couple of interesting inclusions are Tesla charging stations, which must have involved a fairly expensive sponsorship given their limited clientele, and "Statement," a store featuring ESPN, WWE, Yale, Pez, and other Connecticut-based merchandise.

[Ned Weasel]

On the Kansas Turnpike, my educated guess is that the Topeka Service Area is the busiest, and the Emporia Service Area is the least busy.  I'm inferring that from the fact that the Topeka Service Area is the largest and has the most businesses (while being the only service area on a six-lane portion of the Turnpike), while the Emporia Service Area is on the portion of the Turnpike with the least traffic (I-335).  I don't have any quantitative data, though.  Unfortunately, none of the Kansas Turnpike Service Areas ever seem to be nearly half as busy as the ones on the mainline Pennsylvania Turnpike, from what I've observed.  (I say "unfortunately" for reasons of subjective psychological perception.  Others would consider this a plus.)

[Pete from Boston]

In NJ, the Vince Lombardi is the busiest Turnpike service area.

I wonder how long it will take for NJ to completely rebuild the Vince.  It's the original building, and the whole site is a cramped mess.  The overall traffic pattern through the complex (pedestrian and road) is not great, and has been dealt with piecemeal over the years.  I'm guessing that environmental regs make it problematical to do large-scale construction here (both legs of the Turnpike and the service area are on landfill) but at some point it seems like a full upgrade is inevitable.

[cpzilliacus]

In NJ, the Vince Lombardi is the busiest Turnpike service area.

I wonder how long it will take for NJ to completely rebuild the Vince.  It's the original building, and the whole site is a cramped mess.  The overall traffic pattern through the complex (pedestrian and road) is not great, and has been dealt with piecemeal over the years.  I'm guessing that environmental regs make it problematical to do large-scale construction here (both legs of the Turnpike and the service area are on landfill) but at some point it seems like a full upgrade is inevitable.

Stopped at the  Vince earlier this year for the first time in a many years.  Very little had changed since the last time I paid a visit, back in the 1970's.  Finding the way through there is a challenge, especially in the dark (and the lighting was not especially good).

It definitely has that 1950's Turnpike service plaza feel to it.

Maybe the Turnpike Authority should hurry up and do something with it, before the entire site is determined to be eligible for listing in  the National Register of Historic Places?