An Open Letter:NY State Thruway Rest Areas-Nice But Inefficient!

I travel the New York State Thruway frequently. My wife's family lives in Buffalo and we visit often. We also travel downstate on occasion. With the holiday travel season just around the corner, be prepared to be frustrated if you need to stop at a new NY Thruway rest area.

Holiday Travel Season on The NY State Thruway May Be a Bit Stressful

Holiday travel can already be stressful between dealing with traffic and the family but you would think the new NY Thruway rest areas would be a respite in your hectic journey. Although the rest areas are new and aesthetically pleasing, they are inefficient.

We traveled downstate this past weekend and couldn't wait to get something to eat. It was a Saturday night around 7:45 pm and pulled into the Plattekill Rest Area. They had a few food options. There was Burger King, Chick-fil-A, and Panera. We chose Panera.

It's a good thing we got there when we did because we were one of the last ones to order and it took forever because we had to order from the kiosk. Panera in this NY Thruway rest area closes at 8 pm on a Saturday night!

Food Options Don't Always Make Sense

Not only do the fast food restaurants close early on Saturday night but tell me why the New York State Thruway decided to put Chick-fil-A restaurants in many of the rest areas. Don't get me wrong I love Chick-fil-A but how can this be an efficient choice?

Most people driving on the Thruway travel on the weekends. Everyone knows that Chick-fil-A restaurants are closed on Sunday! One of the busiest days of the week for traveling on the Thruway.

It's Not All Inefficient

I do like the Applegreen store and the Taste of NY section. This seems to have all different products from throughout New York State.

As much as I love that they are redoing all of the NY State Thruway rest areas, I just wish they did more research. I would like to think that they would have done a survey or some sort of testing as to the restaurants they were considering putting in each new rest area. It seems they took the highest bidder.

These are just my thoughts about the Thruway rest areas. As I said before, I do travel the Thruway a lot and the rest areas are beautiful but I feel the inefficiency outweighs the beauty.