So I see they are talking about allowing commercial gas stations and restaurants at Interstate rest areas like on the old turnpikes. What if instead, the states shut down all the rest areas? How do you feel about stopping at a gas station and using the rest room and buying nothing? I never feel right about it, and avoid doing it.
My 02 Cavalier has a 14 gallon tank and gets about 33 mpg running the 75-80 you usually can get away with. 14 x 33/75 = 6.16 hours. My bladder gets about 2-3 hours. So on much of a trip, we need many more comfort stops than gas stops. Often we will do both plus a meal. I have seen signs in gas stations begging you to buy something. (A 2 lane road with one little town in the middle of nowhere.)
So I posted this in IMHO to see what people had to say. Close the rest areas or allow gas stations?
Lots of interstates around here have commercial gas stations and restaurants at the rest areas. I’ve seen them all along the east coast and midwest, and some out west. Where are you that this is an anomaly?
I use bathrooms in many places (old lady bladder) without buying anything: gas stations, mall stores, bookstores, etc. I might buy a candy bar once in a while but if I don’t need gas I just take advantage of the facilities. No need to be ashamed; they’re used to it, really.
Although they have hung Interstate signs along all the old turnpikes, roads financed as Interstate Highway projects don’t have much but a few vending machines at them. Going across Pennsylvania I 76 or however they number it, has gas stations at the plazas. I 80 doesn’t. I 79 doesn’t. I don’t remember any on PA 60.
I always buy something - a pack of gum, a cup of coffee, something. The proprietor pays for water, sewage disposal, electricity, paper products, etc. The least I can do is put those pennies back in the till. (And I’m turning into my mom, anyway: when we travel, except for emergencies like barfing kids, stinky diapers, or needing to tie down a load or check a tire, we generally stop for everything at once. The kids are well-conditioned to taking a potty, food, and beverage break anytime I stop for gasoline.)
I suspect that it largely depends on the state (and perhaps also whether they’re tollways or freeways).
In Illinois, the “Oases” (rest areas) on the tollways have always had gas stations and restaurants, as well as public restrooms, and at least some of the Illinois tollways have been Interstates from their construction.
OTOH, the rest areas on “free” Illinois Interstates are mostly, if not all, of the “restrooms and some vending machines” variety.
Back to the OP: I have no problem with stopping at a gas station (or a McDonalds) just to use the restroom. I may well buy a little something while I’m there (like a bottle of soda), but I might not. I strongly suspect that anyone who opens a gas station or fast-food place right at an Interstate exit understands that they’re going to be getting a certain number of “just using the restroom” visitors. I’m sure they’d like to have everyone buy something, but having a public restroom is part of the cost of doing business at that location.
I’ve done most of my driving in CA. I stop fairly often – more often than there are rest stops, usually. I find little public parks, shopping centers, larger stores (like big drugstores or supermarkets) where I can always find publicly accessible water closets. In larger stores like that, nobody is ever even going to notice.
I always buy something if I use the restroom. That seems like the fair thing to do. I’m actually surprised that some people use the bathroom without buying something.
Given a chance when I need to make such a stop, I will hit a Walmart rather than a small gas station. I have also suggested that people traveling with just them and their dog stop at large pet stores that have restrooms. Pet aren’t allowed in either rest stops or gas stations. In hotter weather, you can’t leave the dog in the car.
Many times, I get gas without using the restroom. I suspect that this is true for a number of people. So I suppose that balances with the people who use the restroom but do not get gas. I’m not seeing a problem here.
And clearly this varies by state. Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and other parts of the East Coast have those big plazas with a gas station, one or more restaurants, vending machines, tourism information and restrooms in them. And the restrooms are kept reasonably clean.
:dubious: Every rest stop I’ve ever been at has had a dog walking area. A lot of them even have poo bags. And yeah, you can leave the dog in the car long enough to take a leak if you roll the windows down a handwidth. I wouldn’t leave them long enough to eat a meal or anything, but just to pee and grab a soda it’s fine.
Yeah, I was going to say…I’ve driven through a fair amount of the U.S., and dedicated dog-walking areas are pretty common (if not the norm) at actual highway / Interstate rest areas, IME. Now I’m curious as to where the OP has driven where the rest areas ban dogs?
About 15 years ago, we were driving on one of the Illinois tollways on Christmas Day. We stopped at an Oasis to use the bathroom and top off the gas tank. Apparently, so had everyone else. The McDonalds located there was closed for the holiday, including all of there bathrooms. The gas station, with it’s small convenience store and small bathrooms were all that were open. The lines were incredible, and the restroom was a mess, I’m guessing at least in part because the gas station was minimally staffed, and with all the people, they didn’t have time to clean the bathrooms.
Please, keep the rest stops open. They don’t close down because of holidays or bad weather. They don’t need to be staffed, so a snowstorm doesn’t keep the employees from getting to work. They usually have 6+ stalls, so the bus load of a high school baseball team doesn’t cause lines. They often have picnic areas and playgrounds, so the family can stop for lunch and the kids can run for a while.
In addition, rest stops are often used by truckers as some place to pull over for the night.
I think what he means is that dogs aren’t allowed in the buildings at the rest area , since he mentioned being unable to leave the dog in the car in hot weather.
Lots of them do , but in New York I’ve seen the restroom/vending machine/picnic table sort on I86 and I 684. Both have the Interstate identifier but I don’t think they have the traffic volume to support the big plazas that the NY Thruway, NJ Turnpike or Garden State Parkway have.
We drive from Chicago to Green Bay on Christmas morning every year, to spend Christmas with my family. Over the years, we’ve made note of particular exits where there’s a gas station that is open on that day (as well as the rest areas), for that very reason.
A rest stop adjacent to an Interstate is State-owned. And it DOES need to be staffed. The trash cans need to be emptied friequently, the rest rooms have to be serviced, doggy area policed. If it’s snowing, the entrance, exit, and parking area must be plowed, the walkways cleared and salted. Rest stops do not take care of themselves. I believe a private contractor tends the vending machines.
If there has been a trend in your locale of putting gas stations and restaurants into rest areas, I would suspect that the land has been sold, and the rest area is now privately owned. There would be a specific clause in the deed saying that parcel has ingress and egress to the freeway at specific points.
Toll roads are a separate entity, and the food and gas purveyors most likely have contracts with the company operating the toll road.
~VOW