Turnpike Service Plazas: Which Toll Roads Have Them and What the Parking Rules Are

Guides · Truck drivers
By RestStopsNearMe Editorial Team · Published November 1, 2026 · 8 min read

Turnpike service plazas are rest stops built into a toll road, where you can buy fuel and food without leaving the highway. Ordinary Interstate rest areas offer restrooms, parking and vending machines, but federal law bars them from selling fuel or meals. Most of the big Eastern and Midwestern toll roads have plazas, and most are open 24 hours. Each toll authority sets its own parking rules, which range from a 4-hour limit to free overnight truck parking with showers.

What makes a service plaza different from a rest area

The difference is legal, not just commercial. Federal law, 23 U.S.C. 111, bars service stations and other commercial businesses that serve motorists from Interstate rights-of-way. Interstate rest areas may offer only a short list of exceptions: vending machines, travel information, tourism tickets and media, and lottery machines.

The same law protects qualifying establishments that existed before January 1, 1960, are owned by the state and meet access standards. That exception matters most for older toll roads that later became part of the Interstate System.

For drivers, three practical differences follow:

• Fuel and food on the mainline. You do not have to exit, find a station and re-enter.
• One operator for the whole road. Plaza rules come from the toll authority, not the state DOT. A state’s rest area time limit may not apply at its turnpike plazas. The official rest area rules in Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania each note that the toll road’s plazas have their own rules.
• The toll clock. Some toll roads limit how long a trip may take, which in effect limits how long you can stay at a plaza.

Our directory lists 31 locations typed as service plazas. Our service plaza directory shows them by state.

Which toll roads have service plazas

The table summarizes what each operator publishes on its own site. Where an operator’s pages did not give a count or a parking rule we could verify, the cell says so.

The plazas road by road

New York State Thruway

The Thruway has 27 service areas, from Ardsley near New York City to Angola near the Pennsylvania line, all open 24 hours. Governor Hochul’s office announced on November 19, 2025 that Modena was the 27th and final service area to reopen after a $450 million rebuild paid for by private investment. The Thruway’s page lists more than 100 EV charging stations across the system and trucking services such as lounges and showers at Ulster, Pattersonville, Pembroke and Clarence.

Parking is for breaks, not overnight stays. The Thruway says unattended vehicles left more than 4 hours may be towed at the owner’s expense. Our directory includes Thruway stops such as Angola, Clarence, Guilderland and Malden, plus New York truck rest stops off the Thruway.

Pennsylvania Turnpike

The Pennsylvania Turnpike has 17 service plazas along its roughly 550 miles, all open 24 hours, though food vendors set their own hours. All 17 have Sunoco fuel and 7-Eleven stores. RV dump stations are at four plazas: Allentown, Lawn, Sideling Hill and Valley Forge. King of Prussia Service Plaza on I-276 has the Turnpike’s Traveler Information Welcome Center.

The Turnpike’s plaza page states no parking time limit. Pennsylvania’s 2-hour rule applies to PennDOT rest areas, and the state rule says Turnpike plazas have their own rules.

Ohio Turnpike

The Ohio Turnpike runs 14 service plazas, paired at seven mileposts from MP 20.8 (Indian Meadow and Tiffin River) to MP 237.2 (Mahoning Valley and Glacier Hills). It publishes the most detailed truck rules of any operator in this guide. Every plaza has a truckers’ lounge and overnight parking in the truck lot. Free showers and coin laundry are available at most of them. The Turnpike publishes commercial spaces per plaza, from 75 at Commodore Perry to 153 at Vermilion Valley.

The catch is the 24-hour rule: all Ohio Turnpike travel must be completed within 24 hours, or you pay the maximum fare when you exit. RVs can stay one night at eight plazas with electric hookups. The Turnpike lists $35 in peak season and $25 off season, plus a processing fee. Glacier Hills (108 truck spaces) and Mahoning Valley (101) are in our directory with the same counts the Turnpike publishes.

Indiana Toll Road

The Indiana Toll Road has eight travel plazas, four in each direction, at Portage, Rolling Prairie, Elkhart and Howe. EV charging is offered at all four plaza locations. The Toll Road also lists truck parking at commuter lots, including trucks-only lots at mile markers 39 and 108. It publishes no parking time limit.

Illinois Tollway oases

The Illinois Tollway calls its plazas oases. The Tollway’s oasis dataset is published on the state’s open data portal as “Illinois Tollway Oases”. We could not open an operator page with the current number of oases or their parking rules, so we leave both out. Illinois’s 3-hour rest area limit applies to IDOT rest areas; the state rule notes that oases have their own rules.

New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority runs the service areas on both roads. Its releases name Turnpike service areas such as Vince Lombardi, Richard Stockton, Woodrow Wilson and Molly Pitcher. In 2021 it renamed nine Garden State Parkway service areas after New Jersey Hall of Fame inductees. Vince Lombardi reports 164 truck spaces in our directory, the second-largest truck lot we list.

Florida’s Turnpike

Florida’s Turnpike has eight service plazas, from Snapper Creek in Miami-Dade to Okahumpka, about every 45 miles and open 24/7. The service plaza page adds nighttime armed security and is the strictest on parking: overnight parking is prohibited because space is limited, and vehicles may be towed. Florida’s 10-hour rule for commercial drivers is written for rest areas and welcome centers; the Turnpike’s own plaza page prohibits overnight parking at its plazas. Fort Drum Service Plaza at milepost 184 lists EV charging.

Massachusetts Turnpike

MassDOT’s service plaza location list includes 11 entries on I-90. Eastbound, they are Lee, Blandford, Ludlow, Charlton and Natick. Westbound, they are Framingham, Westborough, Charlton, Ludlow, Blandford and Lee. Massachusetts sets no statewide rest area hour limit; the posted limit at each site applies.

Kansas Turnpike

The Kansas Turnpike Authority’s site has a service areas section, but we could not open a page with the current count or rules. Kansas’s 24-hour rest area limit is a KDOT rule, and Kansas notes that Turnpike service areas may have different rules.

Maine Turnpike

The Maine Turnpike Authority runs five service plazas: Kennebunk northbound, Kennebunk southbound, Gray, Cumberland and West Gardiner. Most services are available 24 hours. Its service plaza page sets a 12-hour parking limit for commercial vehicles and 4 hours for passenger vehicles, enough for a truck driver’s 10-hour break. West Gardiner, at I-95 Exits 102/103 and I-295 Exit 51, lists EV charging and a 24-hour store.

Maryland’s I-95 travel plazas

The Maryland Transportation Authority runs two plazas on I-95 north of Baltimore: Maryland House at mile marker 82 and Chesapeake House at mile marker 97. Both have a 24/7 market and DC fast chargers. Maryland’s 3-hour, no-overnight rule covers state rest areas; the state says the I-95 travel plazas are covered by separate rules.

Parking rules at service plazas, compared

Parking rules at turnpike service plazas fall into three groups:

• Long stays allowed: the Ohio Turnpike allows overnight truck parking and one-night RV stays, within the 24-hour travel rule. The Maine Turnpike allows commercial vehicles 12 hours.
• Short stays only: the NY Thruway may tow unattended vehicles after 4 hours; Florida’s Turnpike prohibits overnight parking; Maine allows passenger vehicles 4 hours.
• No published limit: the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Indiana Toll Road publish no time limit on their plaza pages. Posted signs at the plaza still apply.

For truck drivers planning a 10-hour break, the Ohio and Maine turnpikes are the clearest options among these roads. On the others, check the signs or call the operator. Our truck parking guide compares state rest area limits with the federal hours-of-service rules, and can you sleep at a rest area covers overnight rules for cars and RVs.

Frequently asked questions about turnpike service plazas

Do you have to pay a toll to use a service plaza?

You pay the toll for the road, not for the plaza. Plazas sit inside the tolled section, so reaching one means driving on the toll road. The Pennsylvania Turnpike also notes that not every plaza can be reached from both directions, so check which side of the road a plaza serves.

Are service plaza prices higher than off the highway?

The operators’ pages we checked do not compare prices, and we do not have price data. The Ohio Turnpike publishes diesel and fuel prices for its plazas, so you can compare before you stop.

Do service plazas close?

Yes, for rebuilding. The NY Thruway reopened its last rebuilt service area in November 2025. NJTA closed several service areas for renovations between 2019 and 2022. Our rest area closures guide shows how to check a stop before you rely on it.

Sources

1. 23 U.S.C. 111, Agreements relating to use of and access to rights-of-way—Interstate System — U.S. Code (Legal Information Institute)
2. Service Areas — New York State Thruway Authority
3. Service Plazas — Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
4. Service Plazas for truckers — Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission
5. Traveler Resources — Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise