So, what are they doing with it? Tearing it down? Replacing it? Inquiring minds want to know. Since I moved away from Chicagoland, I've only been there a few times. But it was a welcome place to get refueled with gasoline and caffeine at the end of many a long night shift.
Yeah, I messed that up ... the "1959 - 2018" is a clickable link to a Tribune story ... I thought it might be too hard to see ... it was. Thanks for the heads-up. I added another click link.
They are tearing it down to make enough room to add a couple of more (sorely needed) traffic lanes ... one in each direction if I read correctly.
The remaining Illinois Tollway Oases are safe for now.
Same here, Joe. It was always supposed to be a "last call" restroom break for us until we got somwhere into northern Indiana (or central Illinois, depending on where we were heading). Lately, the traffic was too nasty for us to use the O'hare Oasis so a McDonald's located near a convenient exit sufficed.
My guess is that in less than 20-years the remaining oases will vanish to make room for more traffic lanes. Besides, all bridge structures corrode away in time ... the system of oases were yet another of the Illinois extravagances that will be too costly to replace in kind.
So, what are they doing with it? Tearing it down? Replacing it? Inquiring minds want to know.
ReplyDeleteSince I moved away from Chicagoland, I've only been there a few times. But it was a welcome place to get refueled with gasoline and caffeine at the end of many a long night shift.
Yeah, I messed that up ... the "1959 - 2018" is a clickable link to a Tribune story ... I thought it might be too hard to see ... it was. Thanks for the heads-up. I added another click link.
ReplyDeleteThey are tearing it down to make enough room to add a couple of more (sorely needed) traffic lanes ... one in each direction if I read correctly.
The remaining Illinois Tollway Oases are safe for now.
Sad. Stopped there many a time in ttreks from Waukegan outward
ReplyDeleteSame here, Joe. It was always supposed to be a "last call" restroom break for us until we got somwhere into northern Indiana (or central Illinois, depending on where we were heading). Lately, the traffic was too nasty for us to use the O'hare Oasis so a McDonald's located near a convenient exit sufficed.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that in less than 20-years the remaining oases will vanish to make room for more traffic lanes. Besides, all bridge structures corrode away in time ... the system of oases were yet another of the Illinois extravagances that will be too costly to replace in kind.
It must be 30 years since I've been there.
ReplyDeleteOther than IL, the only other oasis I've seen is the one over I-90 in Angola, NY.