I-95 Eastbound Side Rest Stop Reopened, Enlarged

Update 4:22 p.m.:

The rebuilt rest stop on the eastbound lanes side of I-95 in Darien will have an emergency generator that will automatically start if power is disrupted, and will provide the same level of power, according to the company running the place.

Paul D. Landino, president and CEO of Project Service, which is runs the Darien rest stop and the other highway rest stops in Connecticut, said the facility opened at 12:15 p.m. Thursday.

"In Milford (where the company built a rest stop with a similar design and features) we were a sanctuary for a lot of people (in previous power outages) and I ain't locking anybody out," Landino said.

Project Service's own retail store is expected to open Saturday at the rest stop, he said. He gave this timeline of other openings:

-- by June 15 -- Macn'out (which sells macaroni and cheese

-- by July 1 -- Wilson's Barbeque & Chicken

-- in July -- Pinkberry, a frozen yogurt shop; and Cheeseboy

The fueling island, with 24 pumps, has more capacity than the old rest stop, and diesel fueling islands for trucks, along with space for trucks to park, is in the back and at the far end of the rest stop, he said.

Fifteen percent of the power to run the fuel pumps and islands comes from solar panels, Landino said.

At any one time (and there are multiple shifts), the rest stop will have about 200 people working at it, he said.

Darien taxpayers should benefit from the "personal" property taxes that the businesses on the site will pay on their equipment, he said, but the building itself won't be paying any property taxes--it and the land it sits on are owned by the state (although Project Service paid to have it built).

Original article:

Darien now has a Sbarro restaurant, and a Pinkberry frozen yogurt place is promised, along with a Cheeseboy, Macn'out, and Wilson's Barbeque & Chicken.

You'll just have to get on the highway to get to them, because those are some of the restaurants that either opened Thursday or are about to open at the rebuilt Darien Interstate 95 rest stop serving eastbound traffic. (The westbound-traffic rest stop is due to open later this year. Perhaps to be consistent with the rest of Interstate 95, the eastbound lanes are called "I-95 North" and the westbound lanes "I-95 South.")

The new facility is much bigger than the old rest stop at the same location, and it has more of everything -- more tables and chairs in the common eating area under the high central roof, more choices for food, more space for gas pumps, a larger gift shop, and a larger area for the state tourism agency to show off the state to travelers.

The Darien rest stops are the last ones on Interstate 95 before New York City and the first ones travelers come to after leaving the city. That's why they've traditionally been among the five or 10 highest volume McDonald's restaurants in the country, said George Michell, their owner.

As the parking lot outside nearly filled up just after noon on Thursday, and travelers streamed through the central hallway of the rest stop, Michell pointed out that his restaurants were maintaining low prices, including items on the mcDonald's dollar menu and a flat $6.99 price on a slew of McDonald's standard meal packages.

Michell, who owns 18 McDonald's restaurants after being a franchisee for 25 years, said he wanted parents to find a place where they found the food affordable.