interesting!
 

Thank you BH, that answers a question that I had been pondering! Both sides were going along pretty much in sync, which seemed sort of odd because I was thinking that the specialized trades would do one, and then the other... but with two separate crews competing, it now makes sense!

And I do like your idea of the prize SS, it should be quite the party!

-PIG

One more travel plaza on its way...
 

I was reading the papers on line this morning, and there is construction starting on a new Travel Plaza in Londonderry at exit 5. Red Arrow diner, fuel, liquor store and more. Can't remember an expected completion date.

This has been a truck stop. It is being built on the current Sunoco gas station site on the south side of 28 at Exit 5 that caters to truckers. Shell has a spot w/trucker parking on the north side of 28 at exit 5 already. I pass both of these every morning on my way to work.

Boston.com reports Hooksett State Liquor Store is now open...
 

....The new state liquor store at the new Hooksett Welcome Center is now open, according to boston.com. Note the Massachusetts perspective, however, that the store "is 10 years too late", under the premise that it was built to combat lack of Sunday booze sales in MA, as opposed to being part of a huge new Welcome Center....

Yellow journalism at its finest....:eek::laugh:


http://www.boston.com/news/local/new...l_sub_headline

That is a ridiculous comment, which they contradict at the end of the same article: "More than half of the state liquor stores’ customers are from out of state, with the majority coming from Massachusetts."

I live pretty close to the rest areas and have access to the liquor stores on both sides of the highway (from the non-highway side). The northbound store is right on my way home from work, and I stop in there often. There is absolutely no shortage of out of state vehicles in that parking lot particularly on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. It is a VERY busy store on Fridays, all day long. 10 years too late? Maybe only because they could have done more business in a bigger store over the last 10 years. But I am not sure about that, since I have never noticed someone going into the store and coming out without buying anything.

How about the restaurants?
 

Great to hear. Yes, that was a poorly written article. I sincerely doubt MA residents would have been driving all the way up to Hooksett just to get booze.

Does anyone know if the new restaurants being built there are open yet as well?

Here is a little info...

I have done that.....to get four quarters for a dollar changed.....just so's I could purchase a Concord Monitor for 50-cents.

so far so good...
 

from a casual drive-by last weekend...

both new liquor stores are open and the old ones are gone... they've done a really good job and it all looks really nice from the outside...

the north-bound gas station is open, plenty of pumps, run by Irving, and good to see that the price is the same as other Irving stations (not gouging like a typical highway rest stop)...

I believe the convenience stores are open as well...

Just waiting for the restaurants to come on line, and we'll be stopping in!

The boat is still in, the weather is still nice, the lake is still beautiful -PIG

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/skzJImgEWlQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I thought the wife said you can now get beer there too not in the liquor store but the country store if I heard her correctly. I very rarely listen to her on the way up. :D

tell your wife she is right :)
 

on the way up Friday stopped in and toured around...

the 'country store' does carrry beer, along with other convenience store type stuff and a whole lot of "NH made" products...

the liquor store is big and well stocked!

restrooms are nice and clean, vast improvement over the porta-potties...

gas pumps are open (northbound side only)...

diner is being worked on...

"Welcome to New Hampsire" -PIG

The math . . .
 

is about right. That's the interest you eventually earn on your social security contribution.

I stopped by the southbound rest area this weekend, and I am not impressed. The goal of this project should have been less about the Liquor store and more about amenities for travelers. Instead I found an over sized liquor store, and a restroom facility that is not going to big enough to handle the volume in the summer or winter peak season. I am also not impressed with what I believe is going to be an inadequately sized parking situation, even when complete.

I think its great that they have opened the facility as is, and didn't wait for full completion. But I hate seeing a facility that while is nicer then the old facility is not sized correctly for its intended purpose.

All in all I am still left with my main concern, which is that a private business was allowed to much involvement with this project. That private business is interested in one thing generating revenue for themselves. Not in making sure an adequate and appropriate facility was constructed, with the intended correct use model as a rest area. This area appears to have the intended use model of a revenue creating business venture, which was allowed to be along side the highway...

I have to agree with you here. The information booth is relegated to the old gondola on the Northbound. Small convenience store that sells mostly beer and small restroom area. Huge gas area and liquor store!
It's all about the money.........................

new rest area
 

I agree with you as well. The convenient store is very small. Not much added value for a out of state traveler. The liquor store is way too large. Did not have a good feel about the place. Granted it will look much different when finished. I certainly was disappointed for what I saw.

remember where NH gets revenue from...
 

I guess I look at what is there now versus what was there and see progress in the right direction... it used to be a run down liquor store, a bunch of vending machines, and porta-potties...

What amenities do travelers want on I-93? certainly easy access to gas, which Irving is providing at the same price as their "off highway" stations, a rarity when you see the price-gouging of "highway service centers" in other states...

The restroom seemed plenty big to me, more stalls/urinals in the men's room than all the old porta-potties combined that served both men and women...

I too question the parking, but it looks like there will be more down in back by the restaurant... time will tell, and there's enough real estate to build more parking if needed...

Convenience store? How much do you need? There were plenty of snacks, drinks, and typical "road food"... people aren't doing their weekly grocery shopping there...

Lastly, the liquor store... let's remember, this isn't a private business... this is a State monopoly and where NH gets a hefty portion of their revenue... helping to keep us from having a sales or income tax... I say build it bigger and better and get more $$ from the tourists who just love to shop there!!

I still believe it's a lot better already than what was there before... but time will tell if it works out or not... hopefully for us NH tax payers... it does!!

-PIG

P I G, I'm with you on this. Let's at least give them a chance to finish the project before we condemn it. I don't think what we are seeing now is close to what it will be upon completion. I'm also willing to bet that there will be ample parking when this is done too.
And let's also remember who is holding the bag if it does fail. The State of NH can only benefit from this project so let's all hope that it will be successful.

I agree completely with P.I.G. It is way better than what was there.
-The old restrooms (northbound) had about 5 urinals and 3 or 4 stalls, and it was a pit. The new restrooms are much larger, and obviously cleaner and nicer.
-The old convenience store-oh wait, there was never a convenience store. Just some vending machines.
-The old liquor store, while pretty big, would get very over-crowded on Thursday and Friday nights, and even on Saturday morning. The new larger store should help alleviate that.
-The old restaurants-oh wait, there was never a restaurant.
-The old parking lot was pretty big, I very rarely saw it filled up. Take note that both north and southbound areas are not complete, so there will be a lot more parking than what you see today.
-The old information booth consisted of a small desk in the restroom area, with various pamphlets and flyers on wall racks. While the new one is currently in the gondola outside, if you look at the artists concept drawings, there are information booths inside the main building of the new area.

I have no dog in this fight, but my opinion is that the rest areas are miles ahead of what was there before. Give it a chance. Once they are totally completed, I think they will at the very least meet most peoples expectations.

Parking?
 

Here's the Hooksett Rest Area Redevelopment Information Sheet. It shows among other things that there will be 380 parking spots on the Northbound side and 310 parking spots on the Southbound side.

http://www.nh.gov/dot/org/operations...15970_rafs.pdf

Sounds like the welcome center is almost as big as the liquor store.

PROPOSED FACILITIES: The redevelopment project includes the following:
• Construction of a single structure on both the northbound and southbound sites to house:
o 16,000 square foot Welcome Center
o 20,000 square foot state Liquor & Wine Outlet Store

Priorities, you know!!:laugh:

- I love how everyone assumes I am condemning this project.
- I am simply being realistic about it, and am concerned that this project has gone out of scope....

The positives that I see:
- Gas right off the interstate
- A convenience store instead of vending machines
- new facilities

The negatives
- Sorry the restrooms while bigger then the prior facilities are not big enough, I anticipate line, and the need for Porta Potties still during peak seasons.
- the parking area is now more congested, and will cause issues, it is going to be to much like a shopping plaza arrangement
- The liquor store is way to big

My concerns:
- The restaurant will not last in the long run.... sorry folks I have seen it to many times..... it will be great and profitable at peak times, but the slow times will be horrible. And there will not be a local crowd... and when it hurts the bottom line the company will want to get out.
- The gas prices will ultimately go up... haven't you all heard of introductory rates.
- The liquor store will continue to be the main concern for the state, and if the current situation changes, and the common man group pulls out, who is going to deal with the up keep of the rest of the facility........ oh wait the tax-payers.....

This work needed to be done.... I think they have made some improvements, I just don't feel it was done in a way that is going to work out in the long run.... I don't think the facilities are an eyesore or anything, they scaling just wasn't done correctly.... Smaller liquor store, bigger bathrooms, and maybe some nice accommodations such as showers for the truckers, and maybe just maybe I would think things went in a better direction.

Not so sure the liquor stores are over-sized
 

The northbound store is the 6th largest store with over $18M in sales, and the southbound store is the 8th largest store with over $16M in sales. Figures from FY 2014. Here is the link to Seacoast online.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articl...29737/0/SEARCH

I stopped in last week to the south bound rest area. It was still under construction but I was struck by how poor the layout was. The liquor store was massive but there wasn't a connection to the bathrooms and restaurant. I also was unpleasantly surprised at how small the rest room was. The designers should have visited the relatively new rest area south of Augusta Maine to see an appropriate rest room design. This isn't rocket science. I really was underwhelmed by what I saw.

I stopped on the NB one this morning, vast improvement over the old rest area but I would have done a few things different.

Parking lot, too many turns and decisions, I was ok but the guy in front of me was confused, didn't like the turn he made and was trying to back up.

Gas station, they should have put it where the secondary parking is, further north on the property and made the first parking lot bigger. Most other rest areas are like this, bathrooms, food and stores first, then gas.

There is not a lot of parking in the lot opposite the gas pumps and if you choose the wrong aisle, you are screwed.

Signage needs to be better, I didn't know there was a second lot until I was getting back on the highway. When leaving, I saw a guy who picked wrong try to go up the other side, didn't look like it was going to work for him, had there been a sign pointing to more parking he probably would have just proceeded to the second lot. There may be a sign there, but I didn't see it.


The restroom was small, but I suppose it doesn't generate money, the store was massive, that generates money, didn't go to the liquor store.

You guys realize that both NB and SB rest areas are still under construction, right? Why can't we wait until construction is complete and both rest areas are fully operational until we complain?

Alex Ray is a pretty smart businessman and i haven't seen any common man restaurant go under . He has taken over some losers and turnd them around. I am sure he carefully looked at projections before he invested this much money in very visible projects

I agree. However, that doesn't mean the public bathroom design or parking layout will be optimal. He is worrying about one aspect of the facility and that is the restaurant. The concerns voiced so far haven't mentioned the restaurant. I agree everyone should let the project fully open before passing final judgement but it is obvious there are some shortcomings that the dummies at the state totally blew.

I know I sound like I have some sort of involvement with the way I am defending the new rest areas, but believe me I have none. I live pretty close to both, and the NB store is my go-to liquor store. They are not in my town so they won’t impact my property taxes. I just hope they succeed, and I think they will.

With that said, I stopped by the NB rest area last night. First of all, they built and just opened a new parking lot directly in front of the liquor store. That lot alone is the size of the previous parking lot. It is pretty big. And there is more parking around the far end of the store, not to mention the parking lot that is not yet complete adjacent to the gas pumps. And there is more parking in the back (only accessible from Rt 3A) for those of us not on the highway side. There used to only be about 20 spaces back there, and would get pretty crowded, but there is way more than that now.

On my way in to the rest room, I took a walk through the convenience store. The prices are identical (yes, identical) to the prices at the Irving station convenience store at Exit 10 and the one at Exit 12. That included beer, chips/snacks and cigarettes. I am sure some items (such as the souveniers) are marked up, but I would expect that.

I stopped by the info desk and asked if that was permanent. I got a laugh. They are moving into a bigger space in the restaurant/open area when it is ready.

As far as the rest rooms, I counted 7 stalls and 8 urinals (sorry I didn’t go into the ladies room). Compare that size to the old one that had 4 urinals and 3 stalls. So it is double the size.

So I don’t get the naysayers, but hey we all have our opinion.

agreed...
 

I have no connection with Alex or Rusty or their enterprises other than having enjoyed many meals there... but totally agree that they both have brought many locations back from disaster to productive and profitable restaurants, employing many people and giving us more options to eat at!

While people may not agree with 100% of what they have both done, it wasn't too long ago that the center of Meredith was an asbestos factory that had gone out of business... they aren't idiots, and are both very 'hands on' business-men... see them both frequently around town and at their businesses...

We ate at the Concord Common Man Sunday evening on the way home and I asked the bartender if they were worried that the new rest area location would cannabalize their Concord restaurant... his response "they opened four in Meredith alone and they are all busy"...

Time will tell how successful the new locations are, and I'm guessing that if the bathrooms are too small, they will build/expand them (and not bring in porta-potties)... will there be a wait on 4th of July weekend? Maybe so, but when I go to Meadowbrook there is always a wait, and I never hear any complaints!

And lastly... Alex's motto for Common Man - "Doing Well by Doing Good"... he gives all employees two paid days every year to do charitable work in NH, each of his locations hosts a charity event every quarter, and have given tons (literally) of food to NH food banks...

The boat is still in, and we're still on the lake! -PIG

What fun would that be??

rest area and useage
 

Lets say I'm driving a truck from Providence to Montreal , going north its the last rest area to the border , on the way back its the first rest area, Think I'm NOT going to stop ??? Stopping every time !
Lets say I'm driving from Boston going skiing at Killington , I've already had 3 beers driving to the rest area , smoked a little Denver Gold and have the munchies ( don't even think that's not a common thing ! ) The six of us see that rest area , bathrooms and food , last chance till Killington , and we are in there .

the guy driving from Concord to Manchester to work won't stop but he's not the target market . Demographics of the road say this is a winner

Alex is a genius !

So, any chance of getting a photo of Billy Bob's vehicle so if we see it, we can take the next right and get away!!! :)

Sent from my GT-P5210 using Tapatalk

Billy Boob

I didn't realize Alex Ray had the only urinals between Concord and the Canadian border and Concord and Killington. But now that I know, my concern that the rest rooms are too small has been validated by your expert analysis. Thanks

Sunday visit
 

I stop by the rest area NORTH Veteran's Day and I am impressed! The liquor store has wide aisles and more selections. The convenient store is a nice touch with all things NH. Even has Brothers Donuts and NH coffee!

I saw all the gas pumps. I read somewhere there will be electrical outlets for ecars and propane gas fill ups. I haven't located any but that will be an excellent touch.

The restrooms are nice and clean although it is big I seriously doubt it will handle the Friday night exodus. We will see.

My buddy Alec Ray was on hand and gave me a tour of his 'diner' area. Wait till you see what he has in store. He is pretty detailed and rightly so. Part of his success! There is a window next to the info booth for 'sidewalk supervisors'.

He will welcome 'Goody Good' donuts if they can be delivered to the sight first thing in the morning. That will be a great addition.

Alec is hoping to be open for the holidays. It is doable. Stay tuned!

Except its not.Canterbury rest areas are north of Hooksett.:D

If you head up 89 to the Montreal area, it will be the last stop unless you want to 'go native'!

Ahhhhhh, not so.
 

Just in NH, there are rest areas on both the north and southbound side of I89 between Concord and West Lebanon.;):rolleye2:

On 89 North alone between Concord and Montreal there are 6 rest areas with bathrooms that I know of...

Sutton, NH
Lebanon, NH
Randolph, VT
Waterbury, VT
Fairfax, VT

I personally think the new rest areas in Hooksett are really nice and will serve their purpose and the public well for years to come!

Dan