Description and Current Status
As is typical for rest stops on toll highways, these areas are full service, or "commercialized," as a result of concessions awarded by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA).
Over 30 million visitors come to the oases each year. The oases in Illinois have gas stations (Mobil) with 24 hour automated car washes, fast food restaurants (McDonald's, Panda Express, Subway, etc.), and other various shops (such as Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Coleman Distributors, and TravelMart). Oases also have automatic teller machines. Six of the oases are built as a bridge-restaurant, directly over the interstate highway they service. The oasis in DeKalb is the only exception, with the facility located along the southern (eastbound) side of Interstate 88, and a vehicle overpass allows westbound traffic to access a segregated parking lot and gas station along one side of the facility. All the oases provide free WiFi access for visitors. The oases have a drive through lane for the McDonald's. Five oases (except for Hinsdale and DeKalb) have Tollway Customer Service Centers, where I-Pass toll transponders are sold and serviced. The oases have a total of 110,000 square feet (10,000 m2) of retail space. As of 2009, the oases were 45 percent to 65 percent vacant. ISTHA has established a special task force to study of the oases' future.
In December 2009, ExxonMobil, which operates gas stations and convenience stores at all seven oases, announced it is seeking to exit its lease and transfer responsibility to Combined Oil Co., a Lincolnshire-based fuel distribution company. The Tollway has 60 days to respond to the request. In addition, the Illinois Department of Transportation has proposed a route for a new limited access highway on the west side of O'Hare Airport which would connect with the Jane Addams Tollway at the site of the Des Plaines Oasis. Unless another route is approved, the oasis would have to be demolished for the new road.
Read more about this topic: Illinois Tollway Oasis
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