Unfortunately, a number of the Illinois Tollway Oases have been reduced, or torn down entirely, in recent years, due to expansions to the tollways.
Two of them on the Tri-State Tollway (the O’Hare and Hinsdale Oases) had the over-the-highway “bridge” section torn down a couple of years ago, to make room for additional lanes as part of a large reconstruction/expansion project; those Oases still have the gas stations/convenience stores on the sides of the tollway. The Des Plaines Oasis on I-90 (just west of O’Hare) was completely demolished, to make way for widening of that tollway, as well as the construction of an interchange between I-90 and the I-490 “west bypass” around O’Hare, which is still under construction.
I drive back and forth from the Chicago area to the Cleveland area a couple of times a year; both the Indiana Toll Road and the Ohio Turnpike also still have “service plazas,” with rest rooms, gas stations, restaurants, and convenience stores.
I’ve been on a business trip to College Station and fly out early tomorrow morning from Houston. So I drove over to a hotel near Houston Intercontinental Airport this afternoon. I stopped at a Buc-ee’s (in Waller) on the way. What I noticed was that there appeared to be no place to eat; no dining tables or even picnic tables. So I ate a brisket sandwich in the car. Not ideal.
Florida still has 8 open on the main Turnpike from just south of Ocala to just south of Miami:
WiFi is available at all service plazas.
All Service Plazas have enclosed dog parks with a water source for the pets.
All Plaza Convenience stores with fuel are open 24 hours per day. All stations offer regular gasoline grades, diesel, and E85 ethanol for flex-fuel approved vehicles.
The Florida Department of Transportation, Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise is increasing safety for drivers on the Turnpike system by offering the WheelRight system at the Turkey Lake Service Plaza. This is only the second location in the United States offering drivers of passenger vehicles this innovative safety technology. Click here to view WheelRight Fast Facts
Our service plazas offer a range of electric vehicle (EV) charging options, with fees that vary according to current energy rates. These rates are typically posted on the mobile Apps used by the various EV providers. Tesla owners have subscription agreements with Tesla to use Tesla Superchargers. Rates for non-Tesla vehicles can be found on the Tesla website.
This seems to be a curious conceit, doesn’t it? I guess more room for tables inside at least means less room for stuff to sell, but what could a few lousy picnic tables under a few trees hurt, exactly?
Have you been to a Buc-ee’s (or a similar place, like Wally’s)? The ones which I have visited have massive parking lots and vast expanses of gas pumps; I don’t recall seeing copses of trees on the properties.
Honestly, I think the lack of tables is intentional: they want people to come in, pee, shop, get gas, and leave, not linger. They are all about volume of people.
Any trees would be popular. Most of the big ones on interstates also provide small bags and trash bins for pet waste. Nice spots to let any dogs out for a quick stretch of the legs
You’ve described a rest area, which are typically administered and maintained by the state highway department, and are there for, effectively, the public good – which means that many of them have dog-walking areas, picnic tables, etc., recognizing that many travelers rely on the rest areas not just for a toilet and a vending machine, but to actually take a break from driving.
“Service plazas,” like the Oases on the Illinois Tollway, and the plazas on tollways and highways in the northeastern U.S., are usually a hybrid: they’re on public property, but have for-profit franchisees operating things like restaurants and gas stations on the property, under license to the government agency.
Buc-ee’s is a gas station / truck stop / food court on steroids; it’s a private, for-profit operation, located on private property, and built around giving people a place to spend money. They have no vested interest in making it easier for visitors to hang around and rest for a while on the property.
I get that, but I meant the big Buc-ee’s do at least have pet bags and trash bins. They at least recognize folks will be around long enough to let the pets out for while
Looks like there’s a new game in town: Dolly Parton just opened a new truck stop with full trucker amenities (like showers and laundry). Along with takeout food, there’s also a full-service sit-down restaurant, a lot like a Cracker Barrel restaurant, plus a BBQ option and daily entertainment of some sort. It sounds like it will be quite popular.
This is what we’ve been experiencing lately. It seems the new ones are made without dump stations, and I’m finding it difficult to park in the limited RV spaces that remain. So we have fewer reasons to stop there now.
Avoiding the truckers was one of the main draws for us, as our rig is too large for the car areas, and it won’t fit in the few RV spots at Love’s. We’ve found the truckers really don’t want RVs in their domain (parking or fueling), so we changed our travel habits.
We upgraded our fuel tanks so the range exceeds a day’s travel, and we just stop enroute in whatever Walmart is closest (there’s always one nearby). We don’t need gas, we don’t need food, we don’t need bathroom facilities, and we can eat at the table in the trailer. There’s always some far-flung part of a Walmart lot that isn’t used, so we just hang out there for travel breaks. The only minor inconvenience is no trash receptacles out there, so we toss our dog’s poo bags in the truck bed and deal with them later.