New Stanton Service Plaza to take hiatus
A Pennsylvania Turnpike service plaza in Hempfield Township will be among the first of its kind along the 531-mile toll road to undergo a privately funded makeover, closing for several months beginning this fall to make way for new restaurant and fueling facilities.
Changes to be made to the westbound New Stanton Service Plaza are part of a five-year construction project that calls for renovations at 20 of the turnpike's 21 service plazas.
When completed, the new plazas will include such amenities as food courts, convenience stores, wireless Internet access, fuel stations and electrical power hookups for truckers.
The renovations will be paid for by HMSHost Corp., formerly known as Host Marriott Services, of Bethesda, Md., and Sunoco. The two private companies are negotiating final terms of lease agreements with the turnpike commission to build and operate the new facilities at the service plazas, said Carl DeFebo, commission spokesman.
The commission wanted private companies to pay for the new facilities so that revenues from tolls can be used for road improvements, DeFebo said.
"We really need to focus as much capital as feasible in rebuilding the roadway," he said. "We had a toll increase in 2004, and we had a commitment that every penny of that money would go into improvements in the road."
In exchange for building the facilities, the private companies will keep a greater percentage of profits on food and fuel sales than they did under past lease agreements, DeFebo said.
According to the turnpike commission, food and fuel sales at the 21 plazas generated $133 million in 2003, the latest year for which figures are available.
HMSHost is the same company that operated 16 of the turnpike's 21 service plazas under leases that expired in December.
DeFebo said restaurants that will be operated at Pennsylvania's turnpike service plazas have not yet been determined, but ones featured at service plazas operated by HMSHost on the Maine Turnpike and New York State Thruway include Starbucks Coffee, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, Cold Stone Creamery and Quiznos.
Because service plazas must be closed during renovations, DeFebo said the work will be done in phases. In addition to New Stanton, plazas at Oakmont, Allegheny County; Sideling Hill, Fulton County; and Allentown, Lehigh County; will be renovated during the first phase.
Only one of the current 21 plazas will not be renovated, said Joe Agnello, commission spokesman.
The eastbound Hempfield Service Plaza, located in Westmoreland County, will close Jan. 1, 2007. Agnello said Hempfield Plaza must be permanently closed to accommodate a $110 million road-widening project that will add a third lane of travel in each direction between the Irwin and New Stanton interchanges.
The second wave of new construction is to begin in the fall of 2007 and affects service plazas in Highspire, Dauphin County; Zelienople, Beaver County; Plainfield, Cumberland County; and Lawn, Dauphin County.
