An Illinois Tollway oasis is a type of commercial rest area located on an interstate highway that is part of a toll road system in northern Illinois, USA. The seven oases offer food and petrol sellers and are found in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, DeKalb, and Belvidere. Although it dates back to the original toll road construction in 1958, they were rebuilt in 2003-2005 by Wilton Partners, a private developer. Rebuilding oases has become a focal point of political corruption allegations. Seven oases are managed by the court-appointed manager after the failure of Wilton Partners.
Video Illinois Tollway oasis
Description and current status
As is typical for breaks on the highway, this area is full-service, or "commercialized", as a result of concessions granted by the Illinois State Toll Authority (ISTHA).
In 2011, more than 11.8 million people visited seven oases. This facility in Illinois has a gas station with 24-hour auto wash, fast food restaurant (McDonald's, Panda Express, Subway, etc.), and other stores (like Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Coleman Distributors, and TravelMart). Oase also has an automated teller machine. Six of the oases are built as a bridge-restaurant, directly over the Interstate Highway they serve. The Oasis at DeKalb is the only exception, with facilities located along the south side (eastward) of Interstate 88, and the vehicle bridge allows traffic to the west to access separate parking lots and gas stations along one side of the facility. All oases provide free WiFi access for visitors. Oase has a drive-thru path for McDonald's. All oases, except for Hinsdale and DeKalb oases, have the Tollway Customer Service Center, where I-Pass toll transponder is sold and serviced. The oasis has a total of 110,000 square feet (10,000m 2 ) retail space. In 2009, the oasis was 45 percent to 65 percent empty. ISTHA has established a special task force to study the future of the oasis.
The Illinois Transportation Department has proposed a route for a new limited access road on the west side of O'Hare Airport that will connect with Jane Addams Tollway at the Des Plaines Oasis location. Unless other routes are approved, oases must be destroyed for new roads. Thus, Des Plaines Oasis closes on March 16, 2014; this enables vendor content to be removed and unloaded for processing.
Maps Illinois Tollway oasis
History
The five original oases were built in conjunction with the construction of the original toll roads in 1959. They feature Standard Oil (Amoco) gas stations and Fred Harvey restaurants, and are something new in the region - a destination within and among themselves to drive customers. Lincoln Oasis was added in 1968 and is different from the previous five oases because it is a steel structure designed by architect David Haid, a one-time student and architect architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The DeKalb Oasis opened in 1975 and is different from the previous six because it is the only one of the seven oases not built on the highway. In the mid-1970s, Howard Johnson took over the restaurant. One of the oases made an appearance on the silver screen when Carrie Fisher attacked the Blues Brothers at Des Plaines Oasis in the 1980 film. In 1984, individual fast-food restaurants took over from Howard Johnson, with oases on I-90 and I-88 and Hinsdale on The I-294 is run by McDonald's and the oasis on I-294 alternates between Wendy's and Burger King.
From 2003 to 2005, a massive renovation program from an oasis was completed, involving the destruction of the old oasis structure to the bridge deck and replacing it with a new building. Where in previous buildings the highway scenery was blocked by restaurant vendors, in new buildings a huge expanse of glass was used to create a sense of openness, and gave visitors a better view of the highway. The steel frame design also has a larger roof height (almost 30 feet or 9.1 meters) than the old building, which increases visibility for the oasis. The architect for the project is Cordogan Clark & ​​â € <â € < Associates. Gas stations are rebuilt with canopies to cover gas stations. The Oase is restored at no cost to ISTHA or Illinois taxpayers. The $ 95 million investment was provided by Wilton Partners of Los Angeles, California, and ExxonMobil in exchange for a 25-year lease. Under the lease, Wilton will pay ISTHA a percentage of vendor sales with a minimum of $ 750,000 per year.
The lease agreement between ISTHA, Wilton Partners, and various vendors has been investigated by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. The investigation, reported on 30 December 2005, will determine whether there is a conflict of interest between tenants and political fundraisers for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (Antoin Rezko). DuPage County State attorney Joe Birkett has also requested documents relating to this lease in early 2005. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Subway restaurant in two oases is run by the nephew of Tony Rezko, a controversial political contributor.. In response, a toll road spokesman noted that Wilton Partners was elected during the administration of Governor George Ryan and that the lease gave Wilton the discretion to select individual vendors.
The news accounts quoted entrepreneurs who claimed that Jay Wilton, President of Wilton Partners, encouraged them to donate funds for the Blagojevich governor's campaign in 2003. In December 2003, Wilton Partners reportedly gave Rezko's Panda Express a 50% franchise franchise in rent at the oasis. In January 2007, Wilton stopped making necessary payments to ISTHA for the oasis, and in February 2008, when the lease returned to grow to $ 1.4 million, Wilton and ISTHA held a settlement negotiation. However, in July 2008, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan rejected a proposed settlement in which ISTHA would cancel $ 1.4 million in rent back in exchange for Wilton dropping a claim of $ 4.7 million for businesses lost due to toll road construction. In the spring of 2009, lender Wilton Partners, Istar Keuangan, closed in an oasis. Subsequently, the court appointed US Equities, a Chicago company, to manage the oasis while awaiting foreclosure results. Furthermore, other food sellers operating in all seven oases donated to Blagojevich have also received press attention for failing to pay sales tax and state unemployment insurance. In 2010, SFI Chicago Tollway LLC became an oasis operator. In 2012, SFI paid Tollway $ 813,000 for a long-term lease to operate all seven oases, excluding fuel stations and 7-Eleven operated stores.
On December 9, 2009, a truck driver standing in the parking lot of a gas station from the Belvidere oasis was killed when debris thrown by an explosion at a nearby factory hit him. The six-story factory building is hundreds of meters away from the oasis.
On 26 September 2013, ISTHA announced that Des Plaines Oasis on the Jane Addams Tollway will close in April 2014. This structure will be demolished to pave the way for widening the highway and the O'Hare West Bypass.
In addition, ISTHA has proposed the reconstruction and expansion of the Tri-State Central Toll (I-294) into five lanes in each direction with broad shoulders that can be used as a "flexible path". Under this plan, Oasis Hinsdale and O'Hare may have to be destroyed to make room for a wider road.
Location
The six oases are scattered along the toll road system, with each oasis serving traffic in both directions. The Lincoln Oasis is strategically placed to serve east-west traffic across Illinois on Interstate 80. DeKalb Oasis serves traffic across Illinois on Interstate 88, and Belvidere Oasis serves traffic travel between Madison, Wisconsin, and Chicago on Interstate 90. The O Hare's rabbits also benefit from serving traffic, including returning rental cars, associated with O'Hare Airport. The only highway that does not have an oasis on it is the Veterans Memorial Tollway (Interstate 355), designed to serve local traffic and open decades after tolls and other oases are built. On March 16, 2014, Des Plaines Oasis closed as part of construction on the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway expansion.
Note
References
External links
- Illinois Tollway oasis general information page
- Wilton Partners' Illinois deploys the website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments