MAHONING VALLEY Turnpike panel discusses new service plazas

I-80 in the Valley could be a toll road if Pennsylvania charges on its section.
& lt;a href=mailto:skolnick@vindy.com & gt;By DAVID SKOLNICK & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The most ambitious plaza improvement project in the Ohio Turnpike Commission's history involves the replacement of the two Mahoning Valley service plazas.
Gary C. Suhadolnik, the turnpike commission's executive director, said the commission is in preliminary talks with a number of truck-stop franchises -- including Pilot, TravelCenters of America, Petro, Sunoco and HMS Host Co. -- to build truck facilities at the two Valley plazas near North Lima as well as one at Glacier Hills in the far northwest end of the turnpike.
The centers could be privately built and would provide special services for truckers, he said. Among those services would be a repair garage, convenience stores focused on the needs of truckers, and possibly a movie theater, he said.
Study is needed
There is the possibility that the two Valley plazas would be combined into one, but a study needs to be done to see if it would be cost-prohibitive as well as inconvenient for truck drivers to make the turn over a bridge from one side to the other, Suhadolnik said.
"I like the concept, but we want open space, and we want to be in charge of cleaning them," Suhadolnik told The Vindicator during an interview Tuesday.
Construction on the improved plazas could begin as early as next year and be finished by 2006, said Suhadolnik, who emphasized that no decision has been made on what the facilities will look like.
"Truck companies see this idea, and they'd love to get on these toll roads, so we approached them," he said. "Being the first out of the box may not be bad. We may get a better rate."
During the interview, Suhadolnik brought up the possibility of making the stretch of Interstate 80 from the Pennsylvania line to the Ohio Turnpike, about 20 miles through the Mahoning Valley, a toll road if Pennsylvania opts to make its portion of I-80 a toll road.
Some resistance
The idea in Pennsylvania is meeting resistance from state legislators and members of Congress from that state. Like in Ohio, approval to charge a toll on I-80 in Pennsylvania would need approval from its state Legislature and the U.S. Congress.
"There's no serious consideration, but it's an interesting concept," Suhadolnik said. "There is no reason for Ohio not to toll that small section of 80 if Pennsylvania does it. But I've had no discussion with anyone about it."
Also, Suhadolnik has done an about-face on implementing the E-ZPass program that allows motorists to buy a small piece of equipment for their vehicles scanned at toll booths, allowing drivers to slowly pass through, saving them travel time used to stop and pay tolls.
In an interview last year, he said he was looking at plans to implement it.
After looking at preliminary information from Pennsylvania, Suhadolnik said Tuesday that it would cost about $50 million to implement the plan, and the return on investment isn't there.
"We think it's a bad business decision at this point," he said.
& lt;a href=mailto:skolnick@vindy.com & gt;skolnick@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;