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http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/869682--hwy-401-service-centres-back-in-business?bn=1
Motorists on Highway 401 now have more places to pee than to be peed off as the province opens seven new service centres to replace ones that closed and were torn down in the last couple of years.
After months of enduring temporary toilets in trailers with vending machine food if such amenities were available at all truckers and travellers now have brand new washrooms and their pick of popular fast food.
These state-of-the-art service centres will serve motorists better and help showcase our province in a positive way, Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne said Friday.
Ontario is in the process of redeveloping 23 service centres on Highways 401 and 400.
The seven new ONroute Centres, playing on the abbreviation for Ontario, include outlets from Tim Hortons, A&W, KFC, Burger King and Taco Bell along with Canadian Tire gas bars. There are also fresh foods to go at market stores.
The centres were built and are managed by a company called Host Kilmer Service Centres and are located near Tilbury, Dutton, West Lorne, Trenton, Morrisburg and Bainsville. The centre at Tilbury south, east of Windsor, and near Bainsville in eastern Ontario have tourist information centres as well.
The province had been ridiculed for the old service centre closures, which left drivers with few places to stop for gas, food, washrooms, a much-needed break or to wait out a storm.
Aside from the inconvenience factor, the Canadian Automobile Association raised concerns about the lack of rest stops leading to driver fatigue and, possibly, accidents that can result from it.
The lack of service centres was a far cry from the situation in other jurisdictions, such as on the Boston to Buffalo toll thruway where travellers find well-equipped service centres virtually every half hour.
The problem in Ontario was that contracts for the operation of many aging service centres, often with dirty and dated bathrooms and unappetizing food, expired all at once, leaving old fuel tanks buried in the ground. Those environmental hazards took time to remove.
It was grossly mismanaged, Progressive Conservative transportation critic Frank Klees said while driving home on the 401 to his riding of Newmarket-Aurora from Sarnia.
There is no way this project should have been awarded the way it was, bundled together to build all at once. The closures should have been staggered.
The Tilbury north location, for example, had been open for weeks with washrooms and vending machines only while workers built the Tim Hortons and Burger King outlets.
Motorists on Highway 401 now have more places to pee than to be peed off as the province opens seven new service centres to replace ones that closed and were torn down in the last couple of years.
After months of enduring temporary toilets in trailers with vending machine food if such amenities were available at all truckers and travellers now have brand new washrooms and their pick of popular fast food.
These state-of-the-art service centres will serve motorists better and help showcase our province in a positive way, Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne said Friday.
Ontario is in the process of redeveloping 23 service centres on Highways 401 and 400.
The seven new ONroute Centres, playing on the abbreviation for Ontario, include outlets from Tim Hortons, A&W, KFC, Burger King and Taco Bell along with Canadian Tire gas bars. There are also fresh foods to go at market stores.
The centres were built and are managed by a company called Host Kilmer Service Centres and are located near Tilbury, Dutton, West Lorne, Trenton, Morrisburg and Bainsville. The centre at Tilbury south, east of Windsor, and near Bainsville in eastern Ontario have tourist information centres as well.
The province had been ridiculed for the old service centre closures, which left drivers with few places to stop for gas, food, washrooms, a much-needed break or to wait out a storm.
Aside from the inconvenience factor, the Canadian Automobile Association raised concerns about the lack of rest stops leading to driver fatigue and, possibly, accidents that can result from it.
The lack of service centres was a far cry from the situation in other jurisdictions, such as on the Boston to Buffalo toll thruway where travellers find well-equipped service centres virtually every half hour.
The problem in Ontario was that contracts for the operation of many aging service centres, often with dirty and dated bathrooms and unappetizing food, expired all at once, leaving old fuel tanks buried in the ground. Those environmental hazards took time to remove.
It was grossly mismanaged, Progressive Conservative transportation critic Frank Klees said while driving home on the 401 to his riding of Newmarket-Aurora from Sarnia.
There is no way this project should have been awarded the way it was, bundled together to build all at once. The closures should have been staggered.
The Tilbury north location, for example, had been open for weeks with washrooms and vending machines only while workers built the Tim Hortons and Burger King outlets.
