Service areas on toll roads - how do the workers get there and back?

[KCRoadFan]

Hi, so here's a question I have about service areas on toll roads (mostly in the Northeast, but some elsewhere).

As for the people who work at the service areas (whether they be the clerk at the snack shop, a cook at one of the restaurants, or the janitor who cleans the building, among other roles) - how do they get to and from there every day without incurring the toll charges? Do they pay the toll every day like regular road users and get reimbursed later by their employer (presumably either the toll road agency or some contracting firm), or is there some sort of secret back entrance to the complex, which can be accessed from some nearby road?

I'm guessing the first explanation is more likely, but the second sounds cooler (plus, from looking at Street View, I know for a fact that many of the service areas on the Thruway in New York State have those backdoor passages connecting to roads that happen to run nearby).

Anyone have more info on this topic?

[Road Hog]

My guess is Occam's whiskers are getting itchy.

[Ben114]

I know that the Mass Pike service plazas have a back way in through a local street.

Usually signed as "authorized vehicles only".

[jemacedo9]

I know that the Mass Pike service plazas have a back way in through a local street.

Usually signed as "authorized vehicles only".

PA Turnpike is the same way...signed as "PRIVATE ROADWAY" that leads to a separate parking lot. 

[Roadgeekteen]

I created a thread a while back about these "backdoor entrances". I think that the general public is allowed to use them sometimes though.

[NWI_Irish96]

The plazas in Indiana all have a separate parking area that can be accessed from local roads.

[1995hoo]

The New Jersey Turnpike plazas have local road access. You can find many of them on Street View. They typically have a sign restricting access, though not always (I seem to recall at least one of them is down the end of a street that has some houses on either side).

Florida's Turnpike might be the most interesting in this respect because most (all? I'm not sure) of the plazas are in the median and some are in areas where there are no, or almost no, local roads nearby.

[skluth]

Side access roads on the Tri-State

Waukegon Toll Plaza. Access on NB side.
Lake Forest Oasis. Access on both sides.
Touhy Avenue Toll Plaza. NB only plaza has access on NB side.
O'Hare Oasis. Access on both sides.
Hinsdale Oasis. Access along frontage roads north of oasis.
82nd Street Toll Plaza. Access on both sides to local streets.

You get the idea

[Scott5114]

Some states have an employee EZPass that logs the read like any other car, but doesn't actually charge any money. These are mostly meant for maintenance vehicles, but it's possible service plaza employees might be able to get them too.

[jeffandnicole]

NJ did away with the free EZ Pass perk due to a bunch of whiners and complainers.   Turnpike service plazas have employee lots accessible from local roads, and many of the toll plazas have these back ways in as well. At smaller plazas, employees can just cross thru the plaza to the other side to access the parking lot.  AC Expressway and GSP service areas are in the median of the highway, but most of them do have ways to get there and back free without needing to pay a toll.

Ultimately, this issue can be looked at two ways:  The tolls incurred are just like any other job: The employer isn't responsible for reimbursing you for tolls, and you're well aware that your commute between work and home will incur tolls.  Or, there's a 'quiet' way for the employer to reimburse for tolls.  While EZ Pass records may be fairly public, reimbursement via paycheck or travel reimbursement is generally not.  Even if the payroll records are public, they would be public in gross pay/overtime pay/other pay in total, but won't reveal every line item of your paycheck or reimbursement.

DRPA and DRBA bridges all have roads to and from their parking areas where their employees don't have to pay either.  Heck, in many cases the public can easily access these roads, but if they're caught, you get a nice little ticket for your troubles.

[formulanone]

Florida's Turnpike might be the most interesting in this respect because most (all? I'm not sure) of the plazas are in the median and some are in areas where there are no, or almost no, local roads nearby.

The semi-isolated Three Lake Toll Plaza has a half-mile access road to Friars Cove Road, which is still about 40 miles to the next southbound exit, but about 10 more north of it.

Not sure what you'd do if you work at the Fort Drum or Canoe Creek Service Plazas; the Yeehaw exit to Fort Drum Plaza isn't that far away, but Yeehaw Junction is just a speck of a town which is already 25-30 miles away any other civilization. That's a bitch of a commute for a retail job, though it's not as if there's many more jobs around those places.

[zzcarp]

The Ohio Turnpike also has local access roads to the backside of its service plazas. The ones in Amherst (near where I grew up) are shown on Google Maps.

[Scott5114]

Ultimately, this issue can be looked at two ways:  The tolls incurred are just like any other job: The employer isn't responsible for reimbursing you for tolls, and you're well aware that your commute between work and home will incur tolls.  Or, there's a 'quiet' way for the employer to reimburse for tolls.  While EZ Pass records may be fairly public, reimbursement via paycheck or travel reimbursement is generally not.  Even if the payroll records are public, they would be public in gross pay/overtime pay/other pay in total, but won't reveal every line item of your paycheck or reimbursement.

For the vast majority of jobs, you're free to pick your route there, and if you can't afford to pay the tolls, you can often take a longer route to bypass the tolls. But you don't have that freedom if your job is on the turnpike (and there's no back way in).

It's in the turnpike authority's best interest to provide some way around that to the service station employees. Otherwise, you risk making the service plaza jobs extremely unattractive. It's going to be hard finding someone who would take a $7.25/hour job working fast food that requires payment of $3 toll each way. Almost the whole first hour of your shift would be just paying the toll authority for your ride to work that day.

[briantroutman]

As many other posters have observed, many (if not nearly all) service plazas have service entrances accessible from local roads. This is not only for the benefit of restaurant/fuel station employees but also delivery drivers and other third-party vendors that need to access the plaza on a regular basis.

Another point to keep in mind is that the people who work at service plazas aren't employees of the toll road authority but rather an independent contractor (frequently HMSHost or the fuel vendor). So regardless of the toll road's policies and the logistical challenges of administering free passes or toll reimbursements to its own employees, it would be another level of complexity to extend those benefits to the constantly churning pool of low-paid workers employed by a separate entity.

And aside from the issue paying tolls, if plaza employees did utilize the toll road to get to their jobs, there's also the challenge of needing to make a long, circuitous trip on one or both legs of their commutes. For instance, a worker living in Plainfield, PA–virtually within sight distance of the Cumberland Valley Service Plaza–would have a commute in excess of 1 hour (about 55 miles); then it would take that worker the better part of a half hour to drive home.

I created a thread a while back about these "backdoor entrances". I think that the general public is allowed to use them sometimes though.

This question has come up on other threads in the past, and at least for the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I've always taken the attitude that the public can use them.

[kphoger]

Well, the Kansas Turnpike doesn't have access roads to its service plazas.

[Ned Weasel]

Well, the Kansas Turnpike doesn't have access roads to its service plazas.

Two of them do:
https://goo.gl/maps/wjocMHTahhvo2LmY6
https://goo.gl/maps/JJtjyYVxbkkv4koh7

I've heard (from someone who used to work at one of them) that people who get on and off the Turnpike at the same exit are charged for time instead of distance.  But I can't remember whether their tolls were paid for by their employer or not.

[kphoger]

Well, the Kansas Turnpike doesn't have access roads to its service plazas.

https://goo.gl/maps/wjocMHTahhvo2LmY6

Emergency vehicles only, padlocked

https://goo.gl/maps/JJtjyYVxbkkv4koh7

Doesn't actually make it to the service area, but I guess it counts.

[Ned Weasel]

Emergency vehicles only, padlocked

Well, that makes sense.  Otherwise, it would have to be one-way, and they'd have to build another road for the other direction.

Doesn't actually make it to the service area, but I guess it counts.

I want to say I'm surprised they didn't just put a gate and a call box right here: https://goo.gl/maps/3r6UVrbkPQut1hqb9 , except you'd have to run a wire that whole distance, if the electrical/communications infrastructure isn't already in place.

Edit:  Actually, maybe they allow customers to use that access road without having to get on and off the Turnpike.  I wonder if that's a first for toll road service plazas.

[machias]

As mentioned above, the NYS Thruway has local road access to the backside of the buildings in the Service Area. While these roads are posted with "NYS Thruway Use Only" or something like that, I know plenty of people that live in Westmoreland, N.Y. that would use these roads to go to the Burger King at the Oneida Service Area.

[CtrlAltDel]

Do they pay the toll every day like regular road users and get reimbursed later by their employer

I would very be surprised if this were a common occurrence. I'm pretty sure employees pay all tolls out of pocket unless they use a secret entrance.

[The Nature Boy]

Do they pay the toll every day like regular road users and get reimbursed later by their employer

I would very be surprised if this were a common occurrence. I'm pretty sure employees pay all tolls out of pocket unless they use a secret entrance.

Without the secret entrance, how do employees not end up in a tangled mess trying to get home? If you're on (for example) the southbound side of the highway but live north bound, you have to continue south and then double back north to get home. Depending on when the next exit is, that could take a while. I believe there's an example of this up-thread.

[sprjus4]

Do they pay the toll every day like regular road users and get reimbursed later by their employer

I would very be surprised if this were a common occurrence. I'm pretty sure employees pay all tolls out of pocket unless they use a secret entrance.

Without the secret entrance, how do employees not end up in a tangled mess trying to get home? If you're on (for example) the southbound side of the highway but live north bound, you have to continue south and then double back north to get home. Depending on when the next exit is, that could take a while. I believe there's an example of this up-thread.

Wouldn't this problem exist with maintenance workers at one-way rest areas along traditional interstate highways and freeways?

[CtrlAltDel]

Without the secret entrance, how do employees not end up in a tangled mess trying to get home?

I would say that, most often, they do in fact get in a tangled mess trying to get home. As with so many things in life, I'm pretty sure that the solution to almost all of the problems mentioned in this thread is (not to be too blunt), "suck it up."

[jp the roadgeek]

I know that the Mass Pike service plazas have a back way in through a local street.

Usually signed as "authorized vehicles only".

Such as this very well known one on US 20 in Charlton to the EB plaza

[KCRoadFan]

Such as this very well known one on US 20 in Charlton to the EB plaza

In July 2004, we spent a month in Worcester, MA and we often went on mini-trips throughout the region. On one such outing, we went to Old Sturbridge Village and returned to Worcester via Route 20. I remember seeing that sign at the time.