Indiana Toll Road – a Future
December 26, 2008 by nowhere
Filed under Transportation
The entire Indiana Toll Road is part of the U.S. Interstate Highway System. It provides a direct connection to the Chicago Skyway to the west, and the Ohio Turnpike to the east.
Like all other toll highways built in the 1950s, the Indiana Toll Road has had service areas(called travel plazas[1])ever since it opened. Originally, there were eight pairs of travel plazas located approximately every 18 miles. Of these, five featured sit-down restaurants operated by the Host Restaurant chain while the other three had only snack bars. Each travel plaza was named after a prominent Indiana native or resident. Gasoline and other auto services were available at all travel plazas. Originally, various oil companies including Standard Oil, Sinclair, Pure, Gulf, Texaco and Citgo operated each of the travel plazas.
Later, Standard Oil, later Amoco and now BP Amoco, assumed operations at all travel plazas. Currently BP Amoco operates the three western travel plazas while Mobil operates the two easternmost pairs. The westernmost snack bar at milepost 37.5 remained open until the mid-70s and is now used as a “Truck Only Parking” rest area[2] with no facilities. The other two at mileposts 72.9 and 108 were closed in 1972, although the one at 108 was also converted into a truck parking area without facilities.
All were demolished except for one, the former Benjamin Harrison snack bar on the eastbound side at milepost 72.9. It serves as a state police station and has no public facilities. The restaurant interiors were remodeled into short-order cafeterias in the late 70s when the Gladieux chain took over operations and have since been remodeled once again for fast food service. However, the original buildings remain little changed from the outside.
