The disappearing roadside rest area...

[ChoralScholar]

A lot of the ones in Arkansas have been shut down because they attract crime.  Oh well.

Have they ever heard of video surveillance or police patrols?  The ones in Illinois warn of video surveillance upon exiting the freeway.

These had cameras, but I guess they were not monitored, just recorded in case there was a crime.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

If anything, the need for truck parking can also be handled by private companies.  Loves, Pilot, Flying J, etc all cater to that market, and they can build in areas where truckers would benefit with having more parking available.

They try, and they get shot down by city council after city council after city council.  Seems people want the freight we bring, but then want us to immediately GTFO of their town/city/whatever.  Nevermind that we, oh, sustain all of modern life as we know it.

[NE2]

Someone has an inflated ego.

[Brandon]

If anything, the need for truck parking can also be handled by private companies.  Loves, Pilot, Flying J, etc all cater to that market, and they can build in areas where truckers would benefit with having more parking available.

They try, and they get shot down by city council after city council after city council.  Seems people want the freight we bring, but then want us to immediately GTFO of their town/city/whatever.  Nevermind that we, oh, sustain all of modern life as we know it.

Some municipalities welcome them, others seem to treat them as if they had the Plague.

As an example, in the early 1980s, a truck stop was looking at building on unincorporated land at the NW corner of the US-30/I-55 interchange.  They wanted to annex to a municipality for water and sewer services.  They first approached Plainfield, the logical choice being on that side of I-55.  Plainfield told them to F.O.  Joliet, on the other hand, went to the trouble of horizontal drilling under I-55 to serve the truck stop with water and sewer (the truck stop paid for it through a special tax over time) and annexed the truck stop with its tax revenue.  Now, the truck stop is closed, and the land may be redeveloped as a shopping center.  Due to the attitude of Plainfield, the shopping center tax revenue (if built) will be shared between Plainfield and Joliet, with Joliet serving the property with water and sewer.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Someone has an inflated ego.

Nothing I said is exaggerated or factually incorrect, so please elaborate on how you came to this conclusion.

Now, the truck stop is closed, and the land may be redeveloped as a shopping center.  Due to the attitude of Plainfield, the shopping center tax revenue (if built) will be shared between Plainfield and Joliet, with Joliet serving the property with water and sewer.

Hopefully PFJ, Love's or TA/Petro will snap the place up before that can happen.  That area is at a serious deficiency of truck parking.  If you want a spot at the TA in Morris, you better get there by 4pm, or otherwise have $15 to pony up to spend the night...IF they have any reserved spots left.  And just forget the Pilot in Minooka, that place is always a CF.  Almost always full, and when it's not, the line coming off the fuel island (going through the parking) is always backed up...plus the rows are too close together, making parking difficult.

[US71]

A lot of the ones in Arkansas have been shut down because they attract crime.  Oh well.

Only the ones near Morrilton, to my knowledge, because someone was murdered and AHTD is too cheap for security cameras.

[Brandon]

Someone has an inflated ego.

Nothing I said is exaggerated or factually incorrect, so please elaborate on how you came to this conclusion.

Now, the truck stop is closed, and the land may be redeveloped as a shopping center.  Due to the attitude of Plainfield, the shopping center tax revenue (if built) will be shared between Plainfield and Joliet, with Joliet serving the property with water and sewer.

Hopefully PFJ, Love's or TA/Petro will snap the place up before that can happen.  That area is at a serious deficiency of truck parking.  If you want a spot at the TA in Morris, you better get there by 4pm, or otherwise have $15 to pony up to spend the night...IF they have any reserved spots left.  And just forget the Pilot in Minooka, that place is always a CF.  Almost always full, and when it's not, the line coming off the fuel island (going through the parking) is always backed up...plus the rows are too close together, making parking difficult.

I doubt it will ever be a truck stop ever again.  It's too close to a mall that's 95-98% occupied and has a serious lack of available properties for development or redevelopment (just the former K-Mart/MyGofer and the former Movies 8) nearby.

[Stephane Dumas]

It was closed in 2003 by then-Gov. McGreevey due to 'budget cuts' as well as supposed reported sexual activity taking place on the grounds.

We got a rest area on A-10/55 in Quebec closed for the same reasons, most of the reported sexual activities (and others unorthodox activities) was closed and replaced by a truck inspection station. http://goo.gl/maps/LE3M1

[ilvny]

The Neshaminy Service Plaza on I-276/Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bucks County was torn down to build an eastbound only/EZ-Pass only exit to Parx Casino & Racing.  The exit is redundant because you can take US 1 south to PA 132/Street Road east to get there.  Without the service plaza, the nearest one is the King of Prussia Service Plaza.

There's also a service plaza on the Garden State Parkway that had a Roy Rogers, but it closed and it is now all self-service with vending machines.

The best full-service ones I know of are the Frank S. Farley Service Plaza on the Atlantic City Expressway and the Allentown Service Plaza on I-476/PA Turnpike Northeast Extension.

[Pete from Boston]

If anything, the need for truck parking can also be handled by private companies.  Loves, Pilot, Flying J, etc all cater to that market, and they can build in areas where truckers would benefit with having more parking available.

They try, and they get shot down by city council after city council after city council.  Seems people want the freight we bring, but then want us to immediately GTFO of their town/city/whatever.  Nevermind that we, oh, sustain all of modern life as we know it.

Some municipalities welcome them, others seem to treat them as if they had the Plague.

Truck stops are rare in the northeast, as has been pointed out.  Particularly new ones.  Still, I remember reading a local article from the time that celebrated the arrival of the new TA in Willington, CT., because Willington is not exactly a tax mine (nor a job center).

Interestingly, the nearby Sturbridge Isle/Flying J/Pilot truck stop has descended into "just kind of there" even though it predates the TA.  I think the fact that it hangs on is a testament to the real lack of dedicated truck facilities in this part of the country.

[ChoralScholar]

A lot of the ones in Arkansas have been shut down because they attract crime.  Oh well.

Only the ones near Morrilton, to my knowledge, because someone was murdered and AHTD is too cheap for security cameras.

It had security cameras - and signs that warned of video surveillance.  ATHD shut down another one on I-40 EB between Exit 142 and I-430 for similar reasons.  That one was shut down many years ago.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Interestingly, the nearby Sturbridge Isle/Flying J/Pilot truck stop has descended into "just kind of there" even though it predates the TA.  I think the fact that it hangs on is a testament to the real lack of dedicated truck facilities in this part of the country.

Simple explanation: the TA charges per night to park, the Pilot does not.

[Pete from Boston]

That's very interesting.  The last time I was out there I was told by an employee that the main building is actually condemned.  The place really is sort of an isle of mystery.

[Beeper1]

I remember back in the 90s that Sturbridge Isla was a really busy place.  That main building is (was?) really nice inside and had a great restaurant, a gift shop, ice cream stand, take-out pizza place, showers for truckers, and a tourist info center.  The restaurant had a very popular sunday night buffet.  The place was always busy.

At some point around 1999-2000, the restaurant changed owners and then soon closed.  It seemed without the main restaurant, the number of customers dropped and soon the gift shop and other places in the main building closed (most travelers looking for quick food go to the Sbarros/Roy Rogers just up the road, or to any of the many places on US-20).  It's been completely shuttered for at least 10 years now.  I'm surprised nobody's tried re-opening it.

[jeffandnicole]

Someone has an inflated ego.

Nothing I said is exaggerated or factually incorrect, so please elaborate on how you came to this conclusion.

I believe it.  Interchange 4 of the NJ Turnpike sits in Mt. Laurel, NJ, and they benefit from a lot of the exiting traffic with all the hotels, restaurants and other businesses in the area.  But when the NJ Turnpike wanted to build a truck-only service plaza in Mt. Laurel, in which trucks would never even have to leave the Turnpike, the town would barely entertain the thought, much less approve it. 

In another case, the current Turnpike widening project goes thru Bordentown, NJ.  At a public meeting, a township council person stood up and blasted the project, claiming he doesn't want all the additional traffic, including truck traffic, going thru his town. It struck me as odd as most of the traffic would just remain on the turnpike, and his town plays host to several truck stops for the traffic that does exit the Turnpike.