An Illinois Tollway Oasis is a type of commercialized rest area sited over interstate highways that are part of the toll road system in northern Illinois, United States.[1] The seven oases offer food and gasoline vendors and are found in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, DeKalb, and Belvidere. Although the oases date back to the original tollway construction in 1958, they were redeveloped in 2003–05 by Wilton Partners, a private developer. The redevelopment of the oases has been the focal point of alleged political corruption. The seven oases are administered by a court-appointed manager following default of their developer, Wilton Partners.
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As is typical for rest stops on toll highways, these areas are full service, or "commercialized," as a result of concessions awarded by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA).[lower-alpha 1]
Over 30 million visitors come to the oases each year.[6] The oases in Illinois have gas stations (Mobil) with 24 hour automated car washes, fast food restaurants (McDonald's, Panda Express, Subway, etc.), and other various shops (such as Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Coleman Distributors, and TravelMart). Oases also have automatic teller machines. Six of the oases are built directly over the interstate highway they service. The oasis in DeKalb is the only exception, with the facility located along the southern (eastbound) side of Interstate 88, and a vehicle overpass allows westbound traffic to access a segregated parking lot and gas station along one side of the facility. All the oases provide free WiFi access for visitors. The oases have a drive through lane for the McDonald's. Five oases (except for Hinsdale and DeKalb) have Tollway Customer Service Centers, where I-Pass toll transponders are sold and serviced.[1][7] The oases have a total of 110,000 square feet (10,000 m2) of retail space.[8] As of 2009, the oases were 45 percent to 65 percent vacant. ISTHA has established a special task force to study of the oases' future.[9]
In December 2009, ExxonMobil, which operates gas stations and convenience stores at all seven oases, announced it is seeking to exit its lease and transfer responsibility to Combined Oil Co., a Lincolnshire-based fuel distribution company. The Tollway has 60 days to respond to the request.[10] In addition, the Illinois Department of Transportation has proposed a route for a new limited access highway on the west side of O'Hare Airport which would connect with the Jane Addams Tollway at the site of the Des Plaines Oasis. Unless another route is approved, the oasis would have to be demolished for the new road.[10]
The five original oases were built in conjunction with the original tollway construction in 1959. They featured Standard Oil (Amoco) gas stations and Fred Harvey restaurants, and were something of a novelty in the region - becoming destinations in and of themselves for driving customers. The Lincoln Oasis was added in 1968 and was unique from the previous five oases in that it was an all-steel building designed by architect David Haid, a one-time student and employee of the world-renowned architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. [11] The DeKalb Oasis opened in 1975 and was different from the prior six in that it was the only one of seven oases to not be constructed over the tollway. [12] In the mid 1970s, Howard Johnson's took over the restaurants.[13] One of the oases even made an appearance on the silver screen when Carrie Fisher attacks The Blues Brothers at the Des Plaines Oasis in the famous 1980 film.[1]
From 2003 to 2005, an extensive renovation program of these oases was completed. This involved demolishing the old oases structures down to the bridge deck and replacing them with new buildings. Where in the previous buildings the view of the highways were blocked by the vendor restaurants, in the new buildings large expanses of glass are used to create a sense of openness, and to give patrons better views of the highway. The steel truss design also has greater roof height (nearly 30 feet / 9.1 metres) than the old buildings, which increases visibility for the oases. The architects for the project were Cordogan Clark & Associates. The gas stations were rebuilt with canopies to cover the gas pumps. The oases were redeveloped at no cost to the ISTHA or the Illinois taxpayers. The $95 million investment was provided by Wilton Partners of Los Angeles, California, and ExxonMobil in exchange for a 25 year lease. Under the lease, Wilton would pay ISTHA a percentage of vendor sales with a minimum of $750,000 per year.[14]
The lease agreements between ISTHA, Wilton Partners, and various vendors have come under investigation by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. This investigation, reported on 30 December 2005, will determine if a conflict of interest existed between the lessees and a political fundraiser for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (Antoin Rezko). DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett had also requested documents pertaining to these leases earlier in 2005.[15] According to the Chicago Tribune, the Subway restaurants in two oases are managed by the nephew of Tony Rezko, the controversial political fundraiser. In response, tollway spokesmen noted that Wilton Partners was selected during the administration of Governor George Ryan and that the lease gives Wilton discretion to select the individual vendors.[16]
News accounts quoted businessmen who claimed that Jay Wilton, the President of Wilton Partners, encouraged them to donate funds to Blagojevich's 2003 gubernatorial campaign.[14] In December 2003, Wilton Partners reportedly gave Rezko's Panda Express franchise a 50% reduction in its rent at the oases.[14] In January 2007, Wilton stopped making required payments to ISTHA for the oases, and by February 2008, when the back rent grew to $1.4 million, Wilton and ISTHA entered into settlement negotiations.[14] However, in July 2008, the Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan rejected a proposed settlement where ISTHA would forego the $1.4 million in back rent in exchange for Wilton dropping a claim of $4.7 million for lost business due to tollway construction.[14] In the spring of 2009, Wilton Partners' lender, iStar Financial, foreclosed on the oases.[14] Subsequently, the court appointed U.S. Equities, a Chicago firm, to manage the oases pending the outcome of the foreclosure.[17] Further, another food vendor operating in all seven oases who donated to Blagojevich has also received press attention for failure to pay sales taxes and state unemployment insurance.[18]
On December 9, 2009, a truck driver standing at the gas station parking lot of the Belvidere oasis was killed when debris thrown by an explosion at an adjacent factory struck him. The six story factory building was hundreds of feet away from the oasis.[19]
The seven oases are spread along the Tollway, with each oasis serving traffic in both directions. The Lincoln Oasis is strategically placed to serve east-west traffic crossing Illinois on Interstate 80.[11] The DeKalb Oasis serves traffic crossing Illinois on Interstate 88,[12] and the Belvidere Oasis serves traffic travelling between Madison, Wisconsin, and Chicago on Interstate 90.[20] The Des Plaines and O'Hare oases also benefit from serving traffic, including returning rental cars, associated with O'Hare Airport.[21] The only Tollway that does not have an oasis on it is the Veterans Memorial Tollway, (Interstate 355), which opened decades after the other tollways and oases were built and the tollway was designed to serve local traffic.[22]
| Name | Route | Milepost | Location | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belvidere Oasis[20] | I-90 (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway) | 54.5 miles (87.7 km) | just east of Rockford, Illinois in Belvidere, IL | . |
| DeKalb Oasis[12] | I-88 (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) | 93 miles (150 km) | near DeKalb, Illinois | . |
| Des Plaines Oasis[21] | I-90 (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway) | 4.5 miles (7.2 km) | near Des Plaines, Illinois | . |
| Hinsdale Oasis[23] | I-294 (Tri-State Tollway) | 25 miles (40 km) | near Hinsdale, Illinois | . |
| Lake Forest Oasis[24] | I-94 (Tri-State Tollway) | 18 miles (29 km) | near Lake Forest, Illinois | . |
| Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis[11] | (I-80/294) (Tri-State Tollway) | 1 mile (1.6 km) | near South Holland, Illinois | . |
| O’Hare Oasis[25] | (I-294) (Tri-State Tollway) | 38 miles (61 km) | near Schiller Park, Illinois | . |
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