OHIO TURNPIKE 2 service plazas to open

Staff report

New Springfield

After a lengthy delay and millions spent to replace facilities that had been there since the Ohio Turnpike’s opening in 1955, the new Mahoning Valley and Glacier Hills service plazas in New Springfield will officially open today.

A formal ribbon-cutting will take place at 9:30 a.m. today at the plaza, a gateway for Ohio-bound traffic coming from the east.

The new plazas will fill a 121.6-mile void westbound between the New Stanton, Pa., Service Plaza, and the Portage Service Plaza in Mantua, Ohio, and a 93.3-mile eastbound void between the Brady’s Leap Service Plaza in Mantua and the Oakmont Plum Service Plaza in Pennsylvania.

When the project was first announced in January 2011, construction was supposed to be complete by last summer, but the original contract was terminated by the Ohio Turnpike Commission when the first company hired to do the work was not fulfilling its obligations, according to the turnpike commission.

Covelli Enterprises opened two new Panera Bread cafes on both sides of the highway Tuesday, when barricades were removed and drivers could stop at both facilities during a soft opening. The company also will open two Dairy Queen Grill and Chill locations there June 5. Sunoco, which supplies fuel at all Ohio Turnpike service plazas, will be the fuel supplier.

Turnpike spokeswoman Lauren Hakos said the plaza had been closed since Jan. 31, 2011. She estimated that the facilities cost about $31 million to build.