super_camper wrote: Another way to avoid this situation is to travel in the US.
Mind you to get to MI you have to take the 401.
Another comment:
Why would the MTO tear these places down a year before before determining who was going to construct & manage the new ones? I wonder if the new facilities have even been designed yet?
I was in a recently reopened rest area on I-69 south of Ft. Wayne. No crowds & lots of easily accessible parking. The way they have the cement barriers set up @ our S/Cs, you'd think the designer worked on corn field mazes.
1986 Monte Carlo SS
2004 Chevrolet K2500HD (P3 controller, Husky WD hitch)
2009 Rockwood 2106 Mini Lite
Retired GM of Canada Oshawa Truck Assembly Plant
Opened 1965 Closed 2009
I will second Sea Dogs and others assertion that our S/C's and lack of rest stops is scandalous. We should be ashamed of this outrage. We activley court the tourist dollar but then waffle on providing them and our commercial truck operators the facilities they want or need to make a sojourn on the 401 even slightly palatable. That highway is bad enough without adding to the misery by forcing people to make a marathon run of it!
I'm also of the opinion that farming it out to private contractors will only result in it degrading to the lowest bidder with cleanliness resembling that of most of our motels being owned & operated by folks who seem mystified by the concept of functioning water closets or green/black mould being a bad thing!
Now I've done it! The politicly correct police will have my **** for that one!
Today is just the tomorrow you worried about yesterday!
Jerry & Susie
1996 Roadtrek 190 Versatile (Dodge 5.2 L)
FMCA F390585 Trees are being destroyed through the transportation of invasive insects and diseases in firewood. For more information, please visit www.dontmovefirewood.org
Let private enterprise build their gas stations @ interchanges & have the MTO maintain rest areas. I've travelled in many states & I've only seen the "captive" service centres in PA on I-76.
Quote: 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's find & dandy. I filled up @ a Shell in Aberfoyle a year ago. Getting in & out of it w/ my rig (P/u & a popup) was difficult. I can't imagine what someone w/ a larger trailer would've done. Just kept on driving? Turned around & got back on the 401?
Finally everytime I drive past the closed Voyageur @ Courtice, I wonder if it'll ever be redeveloped or is there a law against building within so many feet of a 400 series highway?
End of rant
* This post was
edited 09/24/09 10:21pm by revrnd *
Let private enterprise build their gas stations @ interchanges & have the MTO maintain rest areas. I've travelled in many states & I've only seen the "captive" service centres in PA on I-76.
I agree with this comment 100%. In the states, a large majority of "captive" service centres are on toll highways, like I-76 nentioned above, or I-90 - the NY Thruway (where incidentally the service centre at Pembroke, NY - east of Buffalo - has no gas, so maybe they have similar problems).
The MTO has totally abrogated their responsibilities to the motoring public by not providing and maintaining rest areas on the publicly financed 400 series of highways. If you need gas or fast food, you can easily exit at many interchanges and get what you need within a few km. But for a short rest, a washroom break, and even basic tourist information, there's no reason why Ontario shouldn't have rest areas. (End of my rant!)
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