Massachusetts Turnpike/I-90 (Current Projects, Conceptual Improvements, & Long Term)

According to the Boston Globe, Chick-fil-A has been denied a bid to operate at MassPike rest stops because of a conflict over hours. The company was originally founded by a devout Southern Baptist whose business practices were "based on biblical principles"
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Because of these principles, the chicken chain has long closed each location on Sunday, a traditionally religious day of rest. This is where the Massachusetts DOT takes issue. The MassDOT requires all state rest stops to be open seven days a week. According to the Globe, "the new language was written so that travelers don’t go hungry when looking for a place to eat along the pike."
 
There are Applegreens on I-90 in upstate NY that have Chick-Fil-A and Panera. I once waited more than an hour on a weekday evening at that Panera. That place on a Sunday would not be fun.
 
There are Applegreens on I-90 in upstate NY that have Chick-Fil-A and Panera. I once waited more than an hour on a weekday evening at that Panera. That place on a Sunday would not be fun.
Those Paneras are brutal even during the week midday. Not helped by the every-other-one reconstruction of each rest stop on 90 in NY. Hopefully when they all get finished it lessens the crowding at all of them.
 
 
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The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has announced that starting on Monday, May 8, crews will begin overnight demolition of the Fruit Street bridge in Hopkinton as part of the I-495/I-90 Interchange Improvements Project.

Demolition is planned to occur on Monday through Friday between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. for three weeks.
 
Applegreen would completely replace buildings at nine of the 18 service plazas and make significant retrofits to the others. In total, Applegreen has pledged to make $750 million in capital improvements over the life of the lease. The company also would share a portion of the revenue it earns at these plazas with the state, totaling at least $28.4 million a year on average over the contract term — or nearly $1 billion that would go to the state over time.
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The lease, which has a 10-year extension option, would take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, for 14 of the 18 service areas: the 11 on the turnpike, plus rest areas in Lexington, Newton, and Plymouth; Applegreen is slated to replace McDonald’s as the food concessionaire, and Gulf for the fuel along the turnpike. The contract for the other four plazas — currently operated by Waltham-based petroleum supplier Global Partners in Bridgewater, Barnstable, and Beverly — would switch over on June 30, 2027.
 
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Hopefully they have a better follow-through with MassDOT over NY State. They tried to have NY bail them out about $250 million shortly after demolishing half the rest stops on the Thru Way and promising to not cost taxpayers a dime - it looked really shady, but I don't think they ended up getting the money. The rest stops are also optimized for keeping operation costs low, not functioning as efficient stops - bathroom layouts are small and awkward, and the convenience and restaurant spaces are quite cramped. They also decided to go with Chic-fil-A as the major tenant at most of these, leaving most of the thruway without many options on Sundays. Noted upthread, MA got ahead of that and required 7-day operations for their vendors.
 
Could be worse. First time I went out the Thruway, dear gods almost 40 years ago, the service area food service was operated by the state, not contracted out, and the food was about what you'd expect from a state highway department. =:-O
Probably on a par with the food at a State prison.
 

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