At long last, drivers will not have to pull off the highway to visit Milford”™s gift to civilization.
Connecticut reached a long-term concession agreement to add restaurants, stores and other upgrades to more than 20 highway service plazas on Interstate 95, the Merritt Parkway and other Connecticut roadways, with the project to be led by an affiliate of Milford-based Subway.
Subway restaurants will be featured at the new service plazas along with those from Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin”™ Donuts. McDonald”™s will continue operating at plazas on Interstate 95, along with smaller eateries the state did not specify.
Under the agreement, Lexington, Mass.-based Alliance Energy will displace ExxonMobil in operating fuel stops, as well as convenience stores overseeing the pumps.
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Including projected $178 million in investments, the state expects to realize a $500 million economic benefit over the term of the agreement. The plazas employ about 750 people, a job count that is expected to increase to 1,000 when the project is completed, along with about 100 construction jobs on a temporary basis.
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“This is an unprecedented commitment to economic development, jobs and meeting the needs of the traveling public,” said Gov. M. Jodi Rell, in a statement. “We are changing the face of our service plazas to make them as inviting, safe and convenient as possible to the hundreds of thousands of daily travelers on our most heavily used highways.”
If “unprecedented” might be reaching a bit, it nevertheless is a long overdue upgrade, particularly on the Merritt which receives ample overflow traffic from drivers avoiding congestion on Interstate 95, but whose rest stops are cramped for both people and vehicles.
Connecticut issued a request for proposals in July 2008, and negotiated seven months with Doctor”™s Associates Inc., the Milford-based owner of Subway; and with The Carlyle Group, a private equity company based in Washington, D.C.
Doctor”™s Associates and Carlyle formed Project Service L.L.C. to oversee the project. The new service plazas are being designed by Meriden-based BL Cos., and are being built by Middletown-based Centerplan Cos. Branford-based OR&L Facility Services Co. will manage the facilities, with custodians provided by SEIU Local 32BJ.
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Under a public-private partnership, Project Service will pay for the service area improvements in exchange for the right to operate them for 35 years, with Connecticut receiving unspecified revenue sharing. In 35 years, operation of the facilities reverts to Connecticut, which could then find a new partner.
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“Connecticut is the home of Subway,” said Paul Landino, Subway”™s development agent for the Connecticut and New York region who was named CEO of Project Service. “This is a great opportunity to give something to our neighbors while also providing travelers to our state a good first impression.”
Through his Subcon Inc., Landino has developed more than 450 Subway locations that employ more than 4,000 people in Connecticut and parts of New York, inclusive of New York City.
In all, there are five service plazas along the Gov. John Davis Lodge Turnpike portion of I-95, including stops in Darien and Fairfield; and three on the Merritt Parkway in Greenwich, New Canaan and Fairfield.
Despite its status as an Interstate highway, I-84 does not have plazas on its stretch between Danbury and Union where it crosses into Massachusetts, despite the presence of multiple rest stops. Interstate 91 similarly lacks service stations on its run between New Haven and Enfield. The Connecticut Department of Transportation did not indicate whether it has considered building service plazas on I-84 or I-91.
Three existing service plazas will be replaced and the rest will undergo an array of renovations, including rearranging the configuration of fuel islands to accommodate more drivers and improve safety and vehicle flows.
