Christie: Turnpike, Parkway rest stops getting makeovers

WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. » Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday that New Jersey’s aging rest stops along the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway are getting a makeover.

The Republican governor made the announcement at the Monmouth travel plaza in Wall. It’s the latest in a recent series of projects that will continue after the twoterm, term-limited Republican leaves office in January, along with a new riverfront park in Trenton and the renovation of the Statehouse.

Christie said the state has agreed to give Sunoco and food service firm HMS Host a 25-year contract at the turnpike and parkway in exchange for $250 million in renovations.

He said many of the plazas date back to the 1950s and need newer facilities. He said the work would be done by 2024. Some could be closed, he said, without being specific.

Christie’s office said rest stops due for makeovers include the Vince Lombardi, Thomas Edison, Joyce Kilmer, Walt Whitman, Clara Barton, and John Fenwick service areas on the turnpike and the Forked River and Monmouth service plazas on the parkway.

The new buildings will total between $10 million and $15 million apiece. The Thomas Edison and Monmouth facilities are the first scheduled to be replaced, according to Christie’s office. Construction on those is set to begin next year and be completed in 2019.