When you stop at one of the service plazas along the Mass. Pike this Thanksgiving weekend, take a good look around.
In a few years, some big changes could be coming.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has just accepted bids on an extensive redo and revitalization of 18 highway service plazas across the state, including 11 along the Massachusetts Turnpike. This massive 30-year contract could bring about the biggest changes these areas have seen since the Pike was first built in the late 1950s. The hope is for a dramatic redevelopment of the fuel and food-service areas, with potentially hundreds of millions in private-sector investment.
Initial proposals from bidders were due on Nov. 19. MassDOT is expected to narrow down the competition to a short-list in December, with final offers due Feb. 18. Transportation officials will use several criteria to pick the winner, with the quality of the bidder’s plaza “revitalization plan’’ and the financial payback to MassDOT the two most important factors. The winning bidder would pay a minimum rent to MassDOT along with a percentage of retail sales and also would be expected to make substantial investments in the plazas.
“A private party can bring money to the table to get a project off the ground, so that the burden doesn’t fall on the Department of Transportation,’’ said Scott Monroe, an analyst with Fitch Ratings. “You’re inviting … world-class developers and contractors to bid on the project. They’re bringing a lot of their engineering expertise and creative design ideas that maybe you can only get from the private sector.’’
MassDOT is declining to share how many bids they received, the companies involved, or any other details about the bids at this point, saying the secrecy is “in the interest of open and fair competition and maintaining a level playing field.’’
The criteria outlined in bid documents give wide discretion to propose anything from modest improvements to ground-up reconstruction. However, these documents offer some guidance about what MassDOT is looking for: a more complete network of fast-charging electric-vehicle stations, elements that reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as solar power and battery storage, renovations that market Massachusetts and its communities to visitors, and changes that might entice those visitors to spend more money at each rest area.
One issue that might be resolved in this redevelopment: the crowding of tractor-trailer parking, a challenge that has become more acute in recent years because of federal safety rules that require drivers to take 30-minute breaks after no more than eight hours of driving, and get off the road for at least a 10-hour break after 11 hours of driving.
MassDOT’s mission statement includes this ambitious goal: “The re-imagined Service Plazas should form the background for memorable trips and great impressions of the Commonwealth for millions of next generation residents, tourists, and travelers alike.’’
The state is proposing a new 30-year lease that would kick in as of Jan. 1, 2026, for turnpike rest areas and three other locations, and on July 1, 2027, for the four remaining plazas — when the current operators’ leases expire. McDonald’s is the current food vendor on the Pike, while Gulf handles fuel. McDonald’s also oversees the service plazas along Route 128 in Lexington and Newton, and on Route 3 in Plymouth. The four others — on Route 128 in Beverly, Route 6 in Barnstable, and Route 24 in Bridgewater — are run by Global Partners, the Waltham-based fuel company. The state’s new request for proposals essentially consolidates all these properties under one corporate roof.
This initiative follows similar projects along toll roads in New Jersey and New York. New Jersey’s turnpike authority opted to keep the contracts separate, one for fuel and one for food, by approving 25-year extensions with HMSHost and Sunoco in return for capital investments in their respective sections of the rest areas, spokesman Tom Feeney said. Those contract extensions have prompted reconstruction or extensive remodeling at 18 of 21 service plazas along the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike, with all but one fully complete. The restaurant work was acquired in 2021 by Irish retailer Applegreen and Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, the private equity firm that bought a controlling stake in Applegreen earlier that year.
Along the Garden State Parkway, the service plazas were renamed for inductees in the New Jersey Hall of Fame, such as musician Frank Sinatra, baseball star Larry Doby, and author Judy Blume.
Applegreen and Blackstone are now in the midst of a similar project along the New York Thruway between Buffalo and New York City. New York officials announced in 2021 that an Applegreen affiliate had been selected for the job in 2021 to rebuild 23 of 27 service areas and renovate the remaining four, billed as a $450 million investment.
Fitch analyst Anne Tricerri said the initial data based on per-traveler spending is promising, despite construction delays related to supply chain issues.
“One of the goals of this project was to increase [service area] revenue by choosing marquee names of restaurants, having quick-serve restaurants that are more in vogue these days replacing some of the older franchises,’’ Tricerri said. “You want to entice people to stop and you want them to spend more per person than they would have previously.’’
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.
