Ohio Turnpike Rest Areas

I just discovered the Ohio Plaza parking sites this summer. Great idea! Pull in, plug in, fill with water, dump, all for $20.00. Beats the heck out of looking for a Wal-Mart or paying $40.00 or more to a "real" campground. I will gladly pay for such a parking spot when traveling. I do not need a swimming pool or other amenities when just parking for the night. I hope other states or private business's come up with similar options.

Nice more states need this!

Yes that's nice. But too bad the turnpike goes East-West. Not too useful for us snowbirds.

Most of Ohio's State Parks are open year round with reduced facilities but at least electricity, so that's what we use. Pretty much spend a night in Geneva Park on Lake Erie every November and March.

Didn't Ohio "sell" the Turnpike to a private operator, who in turn maintains it and shares the revenue with the State? If so, probably the reason for the "enhanced" RV parking. Private enterprise is good at seeing economic opportunity where the gubbiment doesn't.

Ohio has scrapped plans to sell the turnpike and will do the following as described in a July 17 newspaper article. Monday, the turnpike commission authorized the sale of $1 billion in bonds to fund highway projects in Ohio. The bonds would be paid by 2.7 percent toll increases annually for 10 years.

stus. family wrote:
Ohio has scrapped plans to sell the turnpike and will do the following as described in a July 17 newspaper article. Monday, the turnpike commission authorized the sale of $1 billion in bonds to fund highway projects in Ohio. The bonds would be paid by 2.7 percent toll increases annually for 10 years.

Ouch!

Made several trips to Michigan 2 years ago. Some of that travel on the Turnpike. Nice service plazas to be sure, but the price of diesel was a killer.......... Thought Ohio was going to sell. Florida did, run by private enterprise now and a lot of the road surface in places still sucks. But the service plazas are nice.......:R

Be aware that if you don't want the services offered you can still overnight for free in the parking area. I can see the benefit to an electricity source in hot weather.

Several states offer limited services, as you go further west. Iowa and South Dakota have real nice overnight areas. Recently found out that NY offers free dump and water which are used mainly by truckers on the toll roads.

I don't believe NJ has anything on their Turnpike. The other north-south interstate I-295 had travel plazas, but they were shut down a few years ago to cut costs.

On our trip from Manitoba, Canada to NY state just a few weeks ago we drove on the troll highways. Yes, I said troll (trolling for money). We did stay at a travel plaza and plug in. Great idea. Wi-fi over the entire rest area would be a nice addition though. We also do the WM parking lots when we are making miles. Did not see any other states with those facilities. We went thru ND, MN, WI, IL, OH, IA, PA and NY.

The trolls are hideous...$150 for a single axle TT from Chicago to NY and back. I digress...