# Why Can’t You Turn Around At An Oasis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476 "2012-12-09T01:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/61 "2012-12-09T22:21:24Z")
I can think of some reasons why they wouldn’t want people using an “oasis” as a turn around. One would be accidents or roadwork on one side of the highway; people being herd animals it would be easy to create a mess at one of the glorified road side rest by having mass amounts of people using them as a turn around. Second would be that being able to use it as a turn around would most likely encourage illegal activities to happen there; like drug transactions, prostitution and people trying to cheat the toll the collector out of 50 cents. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/62 "2012-12-09T22:32:08Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > It’s because for every motorist who misses their exit and would be aided by this arrangement there are fifty who would inadvertently change their direction of travel and have to figure out a way back. It’s a blessing, really. You can’t do it because so many of you would bollix it up. Don’t try to deny it, I’ve seen you drive. Not only that, but some percentage of that fifty motorists will park, do their business, get back in their cars, zoom right through the exit ramp in the wrong direction and get on the highway’s opposite lanes going the wrong way, with the inevitable slaughter ensuing. You think putting a couple of DO NOT ENTER signs is going to keep that from happening? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/63 "2012-12-09T23:49:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Not only that, but some percentage of that fifty motorists will park, do their business, get back in their cars, zoom right through the exit ramp in the wrong direction and get on the highway’s opposite lanes going the wrong way, with the inevitable slaughter ensuing. You think putting a couple of DO NOT ENTER signs is going to keep that from happening? That’s a risk no matter how you set up the parking lots, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/64 "2012-12-09T23:58:30Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Now that is an interesting arrangement, one where the turnpike authorities did have to go out of their way to keep people from being able to reverse direction quite easily. Never seen one like that before. It’s the Sideling Hill rest area, the only one of its kind on the Turnpike. It was built to service both sides because [they bypassed part of the highway nearby](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandoned_Pennsylvania_Turnpike), closing one rest area (Cove Valley), and closed another rest area about 10 miles down the road (Path Valley) to save money. The reason they did it the way they did is exactly as has been guessed: they didn’t want people to turn around and duck tolls. The exits are so widely spaced that you actually have to make an effort to miss yours, and they will certainly be more than happy to take more of your money because you’re a dummy. It’s a money-making business, not a charity. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/65 "2012-12-10T00:36:35Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > It’s the Sideling Hill rest area, the only one of its kind on the Turnpike. Ah yes, the abandoned stretch of turnpike. I’d love to bike part of that sometime. Though the fact that I’d have to go through Breezewood to do so is a downer. I spent a week in Breezewood one night… ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/66 "2012-12-10T00:46:51Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Ah yes, the abandoned stretch of turnpike. I’d love to bike part of that sometime. > > Though the fact that I’d have to go through Breezewood to do so is a downer. I spent a week in Breezewood one night… Any time you want to, Robin and I will go with you, and we’ll avoid Breezewood completely if you want. The entrance at Tannery Road can be reached without ever going into Breezewood. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/67 "2012-12-10T00:57:01Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Any time you want to, Robin and I will go with you, and we’ll avoid Breezewood completely if you want. The entrance at Tannery Road can be reached without ever going into Breezewood. Yeah, but how can I get to Tannery Road without going through Breezewood? :eek: Sucks to come from the West when traveling towards **Robin** and **Doors**. It’d still be worth it, though. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/68 "2012-12-10T01:04:58Z")
This is the very first time I’m encountering this usage of “oasis.” I take it that it means what I would call a “service plaza” or a “rest stop”? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/69 "2012-12-10T01:11:39Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > This is the very first time I’m encountering this usage of “oasis.” I take it that it means what I would call a “service plaza” or a “rest stop”? Yes, but only for 20 minutes. In 1960. ---
**Author:** ![Notassmartasithought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c0e974/32.png) [@Notassmartasithought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notassmartasithought)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/70 "2012-12-10T01:56:19Z")
I’m in general agreement is that the toll authorities are worried about drivers’ confusion, and losing toll revenue. And I’d say in inverse order. The only new thing I can contribute to the conversation is that in the late 60s, which was the first time I drove on what was then, as I recall, called the “Tri-State Tollway,” the oases weren’t fast food. Each building over the tollway housed what we would call a coffee shop–think Formica counters and Naugahide booths–and also a more formal, “white table-cloth” restaurant. You could see the table-cloths (table-clothes?) through the windows as you drove under the oasis. But that’s a time when airports had formal restaurants, too. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/71 "2012-12-10T14:06:41Z")
> [@Notassmartasithought](#): > > The only new thing I can contribute to the conversation is that in the late 60s, which was the first time I drove on what was then, as I recall, called the “Tri-State Tollway,” the oases weren’t fast food. Each building over the tollway housed what we would call a coffee shop… Those were [Fred Harveys,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Harvey_Company) originally started to service the passenger train industry. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/72 "2012-12-10T16:40:29Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Yeah, but how can I get to Tannery Road without going through Breezewood? This is starting to sound like bad Springsteen lyrics: _Maria, I can’t get to Breezewood Without headin’ down Tannery Road But if you’ll wait for me at a white-cloth table at the Oasis We could share the load_ ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/73 "2012-12-10T16:52:21Z")
Here is a travel plaza on the NT Thruway that I stop in often: https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.63575,-78.986936&spn=0.005596,0.011362&t=h&z=17 ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/74 "2012-12-10T17:10:25Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by jnglmassiv > > The only thing more efficient for a quick bathroom break is an empty Gatorade bottle. > > If I could only teach the dog how to do that I would only have to stop for gas. Wouldn’t you be concerned that the dog might bite? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/75 "2012-12-10T20:35:14Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I don’t think it does allow turnarounds- I can confirm first-hand that it doesn’t. The parking lots are seperated by a steel barricade, and there’s a section of removable barricade that clearly could allow turnarounds. The Dekalb Oasis, however, is right between two highway exits. If you needed to turn around, just use an exit. No risk of being “trapped” for ten miles like the OP suggests. Now, if you miss the westmost Dekalb exit and start heading towards Dixon, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/76 "2012-12-11T07:26:24Z")
I’ve never heard this usage of the word oasis. Is it the same as a rest stop? When I opened the thread I thought this was going to be about camel trains and salt traders. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/77 "2012-12-11T13:28:52Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I’ve never heard this usage of the word oasis. Is it the same as a rest stop? It appears to be used for a specific highway or highway system in the midwest. It’s not common usage out of the area it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/78 "2012-12-11T13:42:57Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > The only thing more efficient for a quick bathroom break is an empty Gatorade bottle. You must be male. An empty bottle is a, shall we say, less than optimal solution for most of us with concave plumbing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/79 "2012-12-11T14:41:30Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > You must be male. An empty bottle is a, shall we say, less than optimal solution for most of us with concave plumbing. 😃 That’s what you get a funnel for, silly! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476/80 "2012-12-11T15:36:26Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > That’s what you get a funnel for, silly! 😃 Why not go all-out and get a catheter? 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-t-you-turn-around-at-an-oasis/643476.md?page=5)