adma
Superstar
Aw, geez, typo alert.
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- Thread starter unimaginative2
- Start date
bar1967
Active Member
From today's Star...
401 service stations 'a mess'
Gas stations, washrooms few and far between as repairs move at a snail's pace
September 24, 2009
Rob Ferguson
Queen's Park Bureau
The Ontario government is asleep at the wheel when it comes to keeping service centres up and running along busy Highway 401, the Progressive Conservatives and motoring groups charge.
Bladders are bursting, drivers are getting dangerously drowsy and truckers, well, sometimes they just have to keep on truckin'.
As travellers who have driven stretches of southern Ontario's major thoroughfare know by now, many centres that have closed in the past year or so remain that way trip after trip after trip.
That leaves long stretches of highway virtually devoid of places to fill up with gas, wait out a storm, rest, eat and use the washroom, said Progressive Conservative MPP Bob Runciman from the Brockville-area riding of Leeds-Grenville in eastern Ontario.
Some other centres are in rough shape. The concerns include dirty washrooms and unappetizing food. Runciman describes the process of building new rest stops "agonizingly slow," a sentiment echoed by the trucking industry and the Canadian Automobile Association, which note service centres along American highways are far superior.
"The government decided to manage it in one fell swoop," says Steve Laskowski, senior vice-president of the Ontario Trucking Association. "Was that ideal? No, it wasn't ... we as an industry are trying to make the best of the situation."
The criticism is justified but the slow process is not easy to fix, acknowledges Transportation Minister Jim Bradley, promising new centres that will be worth the wait for motorists who coped for years with "deteriorating" facilities.
"I've had a lot of complaints," he said. "These are all going to be replaced, they are going to be ultra-modern ... it is a challenge getting it done as quickly as we would like."
The problem has been that gasoline company contracts at a number of service centres expired all at once after many years, leaving old fuel tanks buried in the ground. Given the potential pollution pitfalls, removing them takes time.
"They're contaminated tanks in effect ...," Bradley said. "No one taking over would want to take those tanks so they have to go through a full environmental audit ... they have to take the tanks out of there. And it is an onerous process but it is one they have to follow."
It was all bungled from the start, Runciman wrote in a recent letter to the minister urging swifter action on behalf of motorists who can no longer feel confident sipping a coffee for fear they'll have to drive with legs crossed, and for hundreds of local residents who depend on jobs at service centres like one near Mallorytown in his riding.
"This slipshod and uncaring process not only reflects badly ... but also seriously hurts families, communities, the travelling public and a sector very important to our economy – the trucking industry."
Motorists spending a day driving from Ontario's eastern boundary to Windsor, for example, will be fine between London and Toronto but find slim pickings elsewhere.
"The biggest concern is driver fatigue and being able to take a break," said Edyta Zdancewicz of the Canadian Automobile Association, adding drowsy eyes are a leading cause of crashes.
"It doesn't address the concern of a very busy highway that has seen its fair share of accidents."
Between London and Windsor, for example, two centres on each side of the highway within a half-hour's drive of each city are either closed entirely or reduced to washroom facilities – some in trailers – water fountains, vending machines and places to park.
With an unappealing situation like that, motorists will often decide not to stop even if they should, Zdancewicz added. "You're going to have people pressing on. There's a decrease in public safety."
Signs frequently warn drivers they will not be able to buy fuel on the highway for 150 kilometres or more – a far cry from the situation in the U.S., for example, where a motorist travelling from Boston to Toronto will find well-equipped service centres almost every half-hour along major toll highways.
But Bradley said the province is doing its best to manage a situation where many service centre leases expired at once, prompting transportation officials to offer interim facilities and place signs on highways pointing to places to get food and fuel in towns near the highway.
That is helping local economies weather the recession, he added, promising motorists will see more progress on service centres starting next year as new operators are found and construction begins.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/700157
401 service stations 'a mess'
Gas stations, washrooms few and far between as repairs move at a snail's pace
September 24, 2009
Rob Ferguson
Queen's Park Bureau
The Ontario government is asleep at the wheel when it comes to keeping service centres up and running along busy Highway 401, the Progressive Conservatives and motoring groups charge.
Bladders are bursting, drivers are getting dangerously drowsy and truckers, well, sometimes they just have to keep on truckin'.
As travellers who have driven stretches of southern Ontario's major thoroughfare know by now, many centres that have closed in the past year or so remain that way trip after trip after trip.
That leaves long stretches of highway virtually devoid of places to fill up with gas, wait out a storm, rest, eat and use the washroom, said Progressive Conservative MPP Bob Runciman from the Brockville-area riding of Leeds-Grenville in eastern Ontario.
Some other centres are in rough shape. The concerns include dirty washrooms and unappetizing food. Runciman describes the process of building new rest stops "agonizingly slow," a sentiment echoed by the trucking industry and the Canadian Automobile Association, which note service centres along American highways are far superior.
"The government decided to manage it in one fell swoop," says Steve Laskowski, senior vice-president of the Ontario Trucking Association. "Was that ideal? No, it wasn't ... we as an industry are trying to make the best of the situation."
The criticism is justified but the slow process is not easy to fix, acknowledges Transportation Minister Jim Bradley, promising new centres that will be worth the wait for motorists who coped for years with "deteriorating" facilities.
"I've had a lot of complaints," he said. "These are all going to be replaced, they are going to be ultra-modern ... it is a challenge getting it done as quickly as we would like."
The problem has been that gasoline company contracts at a number of service centres expired all at once after many years, leaving old fuel tanks buried in the ground. Given the potential pollution pitfalls, removing them takes time.
"They're contaminated tanks in effect ...," Bradley said. "No one taking over would want to take those tanks so they have to go through a full environmental audit ... they have to take the tanks out of there. And it is an onerous process but it is one they have to follow."
It was all bungled from the start, Runciman wrote in a recent letter to the minister urging swifter action on behalf of motorists who can no longer feel confident sipping a coffee for fear they'll have to drive with legs crossed, and for hundreds of local residents who depend on jobs at service centres like one near Mallorytown in his riding.
"This slipshod and uncaring process not only reflects badly ... but also seriously hurts families, communities, the travelling public and a sector very important to our economy – the trucking industry."
Motorists spending a day driving from Ontario's eastern boundary to Windsor, for example, will be fine between London and Toronto but find slim pickings elsewhere.
"The biggest concern is driver fatigue and being able to take a break," said Edyta Zdancewicz of the Canadian Automobile Association, adding drowsy eyes are a leading cause of crashes.
"It doesn't address the concern of a very busy highway that has seen its fair share of accidents."
Between London and Windsor, for example, two centres on each side of the highway within a half-hour's drive of each city are either closed entirely or reduced to washroom facilities – some in trailers – water fountains, vending machines and places to park.
With an unappealing situation like that, motorists will often decide not to stop even if they should, Zdancewicz added. "You're going to have people pressing on. There's a decrease in public safety."
Signs frequently warn drivers they will not be able to buy fuel on the highway for 150 kilometres or more – a far cry from the situation in the U.S., for example, where a motorist travelling from Boston to Toronto will find well-equipped service centres almost every half-hour along major toll highways.
But Bradley said the province is doing its best to manage a situation where many service centre leases expired at once, prompting transportation officials to offer interim facilities and place signs on highways pointing to places to get food and fuel in towns near the highway.
That is helping local economies weather the recession, he added, promising motorists will see more progress on service centres starting next year as new operators are found and construction begins.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/700157
unimaginative2
Senior Member
Oh come on. It's not like we're driving through northern Saskatchewan here, and it's not a toll road where you don't want to get off the highway. There's a town every 20 minutes with gas stations, restaurants, and washrooms.
GenerationW
Senior Member
Bladders are bursting -- line of the day!
CDL.TO
Moderator
I think many believe that there be dragons off the 401 between Toronto and Montreal.
lordmandeep
Banned
well you can really assume that after Kingston or after the 416 split off.
It gets really boring in that stretch that you would not dare to pull of the highway at night.
It gets really boring in that stretch that you would not dare to pull of the highway at night.
MisterF
Senior Member
Even east of the 416 there are towns every 10 or 20 minutes that have gas stations. The perception that there be dragons isn't helped by the "last fuel on 401 for 150 km" sign that they have just before the Port Hope service centre. So what's beyond that ominous message? 3 gas stations at the next interchange.
That sign actually used to say "last fuel for 150 km" (or whatever distance it is) but they added "on 401" after local gas station owners complained.
That sign actually used to say "last fuel for 150 km" (or whatever distance it is) but they added "on 401" after local gas station owners complained.
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nfitz
Superstar
??? Why not ... there's a gas station at nearly every interchange. And some quite good ones these days; heck the Esso/McDonalds at Lancaster is better than any of the Service Centres in that area.
Observer Walt
Senior Member
Many interchanges have gas stations just off the highway, but a service centre is expected to provide gas for cars, diesel for trucks, clean washrooms, a couple of fast-food choices, an outdoor rest area of some kind (at least in summer), and a large parking area for tractor-trailers to park. Few of the places off the highway can do all of that.
It was certainly poor planning to have the leases on so many of them expiring at the same time.
It was certainly poor planning to have the leases on so many of them expiring at the same time.
nfitz
Superstar
Oh timing is poor ... I'm surprised they simply didn't extend some of the leases. But I'm perplexed on why one would not pull off the highway at night because it is boring.
lordmandeep
Banned
I remember getting off in a small town called Homer on Interstate 81 in Northern Pennsylvania about 2 years ago.
It was a dark and foggy night, and me and my dad walked in with our hoods on looking all dark and scary at around 4:30 am.
The Lady at the gas cash counter was about to pull her gun I think, then I said "nice weather!!" and well we ended up talking for about 10 mins.
Yeah to us who are used to going places its a inside joke. However, I remember in our recent trip to Quebec City my sister, yelled at me when she saw the sign, "we only half a tank left!!!!
I would imagine many get freaked out especially if they are not use to long drives.
It was a dark and foggy night, and me and my dad walked in with our hoods on looking all dark and scary at around 4:30 am.
The Lady at the gas cash counter was about to pull her gun I think, then I said "nice weather!!" and well we ended up talking for about 10 mins.
Yeah to us who are used to going places its a inside joke. However, I remember in our recent trip to Quebec City my sister, yelled at me when she saw the sign, "we only half a tank left!!!!
I would imagine many get freaked out especially if they are not use to long drives.
khris
Senior Member
First seven under construction
Quadrangle Architects’ design for the Ontario Highway Service Centres an accessible, convenient, friendly and safe environment for the traveling public; while introducing a unique, consistent and clearly identifiable image for Highway Service Centres throughout the province. Each centre is linked with its own unique locality using a contemporary architectural form that is also rooted in a traditional vocabulary of forms and materials.
The designs for all three sizes of highway service centres incorporate three distinctive and readily recognizable components: a glass atrium with sloped glass walls covered by a sloped metal roof; traditional indigenous stone walls that anchor the buildings to the ground; and wood trellises and canopies.
The glass atrium acts as the visual focus of the centre from both the exterior and interior. Its sharp-edged shape recalls the rock outcroppings of the Canadian Shield, which forms much of the topography of northern Ontario. The large expanse of energy-efficient glazing allows for natural light to infuse both the customer seating areas and the interior areas of the structure, allowing less artificial lighting to be used during the day. At night, the light of the atrium acts as a beacon for travelers and the roof overhang provides shading for the glazing and additional protection from precipitation. The stone veneer walls, reminiscent of traditional Ontario stone structures, ties the design back to the historic roots of the province.
SunriseChampion
Senior Member
My main concern here is: will the food on offer be the same ol', same ol' shite a la Timmy's and Wendy's and Subway and what have you?
If so, where the hell's the improvement?
If so, where the hell's the improvement?
Tuscani01
Senior Member
They are service stations, not places to have dinner cooked by a top chef. Its going to have fast food because thats what they are designed for... in and out.
DavidJamesTO
Active Member
Instead of announcing the reconstruction every three months, why doesn't the government actually get on with construction? They've put the same press release out at least three times in the last year.