Service Areas on toll roads accessible from other roads

[bzakharin]

I was just looking through maps and street views of the Garden State Parkway (obviously the portions where I haven't been very frequently), and it seems like a lot of its service areas are accessible from local roads. Cheesequake, of course, also serves as a park and ride (https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m8!1m3!1d3!2d-74.29329!3d40.469284!2m2!1f98.33!2f69.66!4f75!2m9!1e1!2m4!1sE9rJL0mMiWfGvIN_yqqdQA!2e0!9m1!6s%C2%A9+2014+Google!5m2!1sE9rJL0mMiWfGvIN_yqqdQA!2e0&fid=5), but there is also this one: https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m8!1m3!1d3!2d-74.254125!3d40.697578!2m2!1f311.31!2f61!4f75!2m9!1e1!2m4!1sFf--7VTGoqLbrm5NwRDAUQ!2e0!9m1!6sVauxhall+Road!5m2!1sFf--7VTGoqLbrm5NwRDAUQ!2e0&fid=5 which even doubles as a parkway entrance (and backdoor exit to avoid a toll?). How common is it to have service areas on toll roads accessible from outside?

[briantroutman]

I would think almost all of them. All of the PA Turnpike service plazas have a back driveway from local roads that leads out to a small parking lot separated from the main service plaza parking area by a fence or section of guard rail. These are necessary so that plaza workers can get to their jobs without paying a toll–and, with many toll road interchanges being several miles apart, going far out of their way to get home after a shift.

As a matter of fact, I remember that the back entrance to the Allentown Service Plaza from Cetronia Road was even marked with a sign depicting the Roy Rogers and Big Boy logos. I don't know if it survived the recent remodel, but I always wondered whether that was intended to attract local customers or merely identify the driveway for new and prospective employees. I used it several times when I lived in the Lehigh Valley.

[hotdogPi]

This doesn't seem to apply to the Mass Pike.

[briantroutman]

I just checked a handful on the Mass Pike (Lee, Blandford, Ludlow) and at least those ones have access driveways coming from local roads.

[bzakharin]

I would think almost all of them. All of the PA Turnpike service plazas have a back driveway from local roads that leads out to a small parking lot separated from the main service plaza parking area by a fence or section of guard rail. These are necessary so that plaza workers can get to their jobs without paying a toll—and, with many toll road interchanges being several miles apart, going far out of their way to get home after a shift.

As a matter of fact, I remember that the back entrance to the Allentown Service Plaza from Cetronia Road was even marked with a sign depicting the Roy Rogers and Big Boy logos. I don't know if it survived the recent remodel, but I always wondered whether that was intended to attract local customers or merely identify the driveway for new and prospective employees. I used it several times when I lived in the Lehigh Valley.

Are they all open to the public, and allow one to enter or exit the toll road , though?

[Roadgeek Adam]

My dorm is near the Brookdale South Service Area on the Garden State Parkway. There is a back entrance which services as a park and ride and has signage specifically detailing it.

[briantroutman]

Are they all open to the public, and allow one to enter or exit the toll road , though?

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.

[briantroutman]

which even doubles as a parkway entrance (and backdoor exit to avoid a toll?)...

Oh–I see what you were getting at.

First of all, you're not avoiding a toll because the GSP uses a barrier toll system–where you pay every so many miles at a toll plaza that goes across the entire mainline of the road. That's different from a ticket system, like on the NJ or PA Turnpikes, where you take a ticket entering and pay when you leave. You're not avoiding anything–you'll pay the exact same amount entering at the Vauxhall Service Plaza as you would entering from NJ 82 (Morris Ave), the nearest "legitimate" entrance.

[NE2]

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.

[PHLBOS]

This doesn't seem to apply to the Mass Pike.

Actually, the Charlton Service Plaza off I-90 Eastbound is accessible from US 20.  Just don't try to get to/from the Pike from that road.

Charlton Plaza Entrance from US 20

[agentsteel53]

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

[1995hoo]

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!)

[jeffandnicole]

At one point, if you wanted an NJ EZ Pass tag, the EZ Pass website gave you the backroad directions to the 1st Service Plaza on the NB side - the John Fenwick Service Plaza, a few miles north of Interchange 1.  Those directions don't appear to exist on the website anymore though.

...but there is also this one: https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m8!1m3!1d3!2d-74.254125!3d40.697578!2m2!1f311.31!2f61!4f75!2m9!1e1!2m4!1sFf--7VTGoqLbrm5NwRDAUQ!2e0!9m1!6sVauxhall+Road!5m2!1sFf--7VTGoqLbrm5NwRDAUQ!2e0&fid=5 which even doubles as a parkway entrance (and backdoor exit to avoid a toll?).

You'll notice on this aerial view: http://goo.gl/maps/lsC3r , that anyone entering the highway via this service plaza encounters a toll within a 1/2 mile.  There are other instances on the Parkway where one can enter, travel several miles, then exit, without paying a toll. 

There is another instance much further south on the GSP (http://goo.gl/maps/G9PmN) where a service road for service plaza employees has grown over the years to be an unofficial extrance/exit for the Parkway.  The GSP has never acknowledged it as being official - there's no signage on the highway mentioning the exit - but yet through the years they have widened the service road and even installed a traffic light where it meets Rt. 561.  The GSP is creating an official interchange for this area though.  Unfortunately, the interchange will be positioned in such a way so that traffic can't get to/from the service plaza.

[vdeane]

which even doubles as a parkway entrance (and backdoor exit to avoid a toll?)...

Oh–I see what you were getting at.

First of all, you're not avoiding a toll because the GSP uses a barrier toll system–where you pay every so many miles at a toll plaza that goes across the entire mainline of the road. That's different from a ticket system, like on the NJ or PA Turnpikes, where you take a ticket entering and pay when you leave. You're not avoiding anything–you'll pay the exact same amount entering at the Vauxhall Service Plaza as you would entering from NJ 82 (Morris Ave), the nearest "legitimate" entrance.

Odd, there appears to be no ramp toll entering from NJ 82.  Don't all the entrances have ramp tolls?

[NE2]

There's no toll on the GSP between Perth Amboy and US 22/NJ 82.

[jeffandnicole]

which even doubles as a parkway entrance (and backdoor exit to avoid a toll?)...

Oh—I see what you were getting at.

First of all, you're not avoiding a toll because the GSP uses a barrier toll system—where you pay every so many miles at a toll plaza that goes across the entire mainline of the road. That's different from a ticket system, like on the NJ or PA Turnpikes, where you take a ticket entering and pay when you leave. You're not avoiding anything—you'll pay the exact same amount entering at the Vauxhall Service Plaza as you would entering from NJ 82 (Morris Ave), the nearest "legitimate" entrance.

Odd, there appears to be no ramp toll entering from NJ 82.  Don't all the entrances have ramp tolls?

No.  In fact, most ramp entrances don't have tolls. Most exits don't have tolls either.  It's seemingly random where tolls exist and don't exist along the Parkway.  Some motorists can pay 2 or 3 tolls in the same distance others will pay none elsewhere along the road.

[hbelkins]

I know there's back-door access to Tamarack in West Virginia, because there's a "To WV 3" sign posted on the premises somewhere. However, it's not really necessary there since the West Virginia Turnpike uses a barrier system rather than a closed ticket system, and you can access Tamarack from I-64/I-77 without having to pay a toll.

[NE2]

It's seemingly random where tolls exist and don't exist along the Parkway.  Some motorists can pay 2 or 3 tolls in the same distance others will pay none elsewhere along the road.

Before they converted to one-way tolling, it was a pretty normal barrier system with ramp tolls facing away from the barriers until about halfway, where there was an interchange with no ramp tolls.

[Beeper1]

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

[Buck87]

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.

[NE2]

http://www.floridasturnpike.com/safety_uturns.cfm

Motorists who make a legal U-Turn at a service plaza, then exit the Turnpike at the same place where they entered will be charged a special U-Turn rate.

The cheapest is from Lake Worth to the West Palm Service Plaza (10 cents each way).

[Brandon]

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.

One can also access the ISTHA Oases the same way.  There's a sign stating "Authority Vehicles Only", but local residents can go to the restaurants in the oasis.

[jas]

which even doubles as a parkway entrance (and backdoor exit to avoid a toll?)...

Oh–I see what you were getting at.

First of all, you're not avoiding a toll because the GSP uses a barrier toll system–where you pay every so many miles at a toll plaza that goes across the entire mainline of the road. That's different from a ticket system, like on the NJ or PA Turnpikes, where you take a ticket entering and pay when you leave. You're not avoiding anything–you'll pay the exact same amount entering at the Vauxhall Service Plaza as you would entering from NJ 82 (Morris Ave), the nearest "legitimate" entrance.

Actually, speaking as someone who has performed this maneuver, you avoid the SB toll of a $1.50.

[Alps]

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.

Cheesequake is a SB toll-beater - exit 129, follow US 9 south, straight on NJ 35 (avoid the long backup exiting to 9), then take the next exit for Bordentown Ave. Turn right, turn left (no lights), back on the Parkway. Brookdale South is another possible toll-beater, but a) only if you live locally and b) only if you go through the Macca's drive through. When I was a kid, you could get out through the lot directly, but it's now been gated off. Vauxhall doesn't count as a toll-beater NB because you could get out for free at the prior exit.

[jas]

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.