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I wonder how this will effect the new service centers that are being built as 400 gets extended north. Supposedly there are another 2 planned once it gets extended up to Sudbury. The one already built is at the corner of an interchange in the middle of nowhere about 20km from Parry Sound. btw... Is that a library I see in that rendering???
 
HMS Host is a part of Autogrill S.p.A., the world's largest provider of food, beverage and retail services for travelers. Kilmer Van Nostrand is a private investment holding company with significant experience in road building and civil infrastructure as well as in sports and entertainment.
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The best rest stops I have ever patronized were Autogrills along Italy's Autostradas. They were well designed, clean, and had freshly prepared, healthy food, that was cooked by people who were dressed as chefs (and based on the meals I have had from them, I am willing to grant them chef status).

That said, I don't hold out much hope that what we'll get will be as good as they get it in Italy: we North Americans simply are not as demanding food-wise on the whole... yet I remain optimistic that these rest stops will be significantly improved over what we have now.

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I'm a bit concerned that if they've awarded all of them to the same company, that each service centre will have exactly the same food.
 
well I doubt an sit down and eat place would do so well at a service station.

Its mostly eat run and let it rip!!!
 
nfitz said:
I'm a bit concerned that if they've awarded all of them to the same company, that each service centre will have exactly the same food.
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HMS Host is the main highway service centre provider. I was at a HMS Host-operated service plaza on the NJ Turnpike, and it was a choice of Starbucks Coffee, Burger King or TCBY, and most were the same. The prices were higher than off-highway locations too.

The NYS Turnpike has a rotating selection of fast-food joints, but I found the Illinois "Oases" to have the best selection, mainly because they serve both sides of the highway in one centre, either with ramps carrying traffic to the other side, or a oasis in the middle of the highway with ramps and fuel on either side.

I don't mind the Ontario choices - typcially Tim Hortons and McDonalds or Wendys and/or Subway- but there needs to be two food choices. There were some that were only McDonald's, and one towards Cornwall that was KFC only.

Basically, a service centre should have
1. Tim Hortons (or a Starbucks) - TH should be 24 Hours
2. Wendy's or McDonald's
3. Mr. Sub or Subway or other food provider
4. A convenience store (and after hours vending machines)
5. Clean and effecient washrooms
6. A fuel station with fair prices.
 
I'd prefer if they actually had a real restaurant as well ... like they used to have.

Though a lot of the private ones that are catering to the trucking industry are starting to do that ... and are much nicer to stop at. Fast food is fine once in a while ... but I can't imagine eating it twice in the same day!
 
Romantically speaking, I can understand the draw of "real restaurants". Realistically speaking, I share a market-libertarian skepticism, i.e. when it comes to such an "institutionalized" concept as a provincial service centre, I can smell culinary disaster and/or white-elephantness around the corner. Better to keep it dependable basic like Tim's, and let the off-highway truck stops and Big Apples cater to those who want a little more...
 
As much as these centres need redevelopment (and they do), I wonder if in the decades to come we will lament the loss of the original centres. These sites are literally being wiped clean. The existing architecture will be lost forever. That may not seem like a loss now but than how many "ugly" buildings long demolished do we now wish were still standing?

Next time I am traveling the 401 I'll make sure to take some pictures before the wrecking crew arrives.
 
Art Vandelay said:
As much as these centres need redevelopment (and they do), I wonder if in the decades to come we will lament the loss of the original centres.
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Within certain modern-architecture-afficionado circles, they already *are* being appreciated/lamented.
 
With almost all the service stations getting renovated at the same time you really need to watch your gas gauge on the 401 these days. You would think the traffic through the stations would be high enough that they would try to keep them open as much as possible during the renovation.
 
Indeed. Some of the service centres have a Jetsonesque asthetic to them. Here's my pic of the service centre near Mallorytown, Ontario.
3590530861_6f8285068c.jpg


Where the Tim Horton's often is, was once the auto service bays for the gas station.
 
It depends what and where. At Trenton, the eastbound service centre was entirely off limits; yet the westbound had trailers set up w/venting machines + washrooms...
 
So... you can vent about the traffic? Or the inconvenience during the reconstruction phase? Brilliant, although I hope the machines are free, otherwise that's something more to vent about in and of itself.

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