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HARRISBURG, PA. (August 28, 2008) — The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will close its New Stanton Service Plaza at 7 am Wednesday, Sept. 3 for extensive reconstruction and modernization and will reopen the facility by Memorial Day 2009.
The New Stanton plaza is located at Milepost 77.6 in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County and serves westbound traffic only.
During the closure period, the newly renovated North Somerset Service Plaza at Milepost 112.3 in Somerset Township, Somerset County will be the westernmost food and fuel “oasis” for westbound traffic on the Interstate 76 mainline in Pennsylvania.
North Somerset is approximately 120 miles east of the Ohio Turnpike Commission’s Mahoning Valley Service Plaza, the easternmost service plaza on I-76 in Ohio serving westbound traffic.
The New Stanton facility will become the fifth Pennsylvania Turnpike service plaza to be rebuilt under a 30-year, public-private redevelopment program involving HMS Host Corp. of Bethesda, Md. and Sunoco Inc. of Philadelphia.
HMS Host Corp. has committed to a collective investment of $100 million to reconstruct 18 Pennsylvania Turnpike service plazas over a five to seven-year period. Sunoco is investing $70 million to redevelop 18 fueling islands and convenience stores.
Plazas targeted for reconstruction are closed after Labor Day and reopened before Memorial Day for the busy summer travel season.
Oakmont Service Plaza, serving eastbound traffic only at Milepost 49.3, was the first location to be redone. It closed on September 6, 2006 and reopened on May 23, 2007.
Three service plazas – North Somerset, Sideling Hill serving eastbound and westbound traffic at Milepost 172.3 and Allentown serving northbound and southbound traffic at Milepost 55.9 on the Turnpike’s Northeast Extension (Interstate 476) – were renovated between Labor Day 2007 and Memorial Day 2008.
New Stanton will be the lone service plaza to be rebuilt between Labor Day 2008 and Memorial Day 2009.
The new plazas are larger with bright, spacious food-court style layouts, more food selections, and contemporary restroom facilities and fixtures. Each plaza also includes a convenience store under the same roof and all-new fueling areas.
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