This is how one state (Virginia) manages their "Gas, Food, Lodging" signs:

http://www.virginiadot.org/infoservice/sign-default.asp

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Bob Martin:
[Interstates and similar roads in the US have] signage to nearest
available Fuel, Food and Lodging, both as lists as you approach
the exit, and as directions from the slip road.

The actual wording is "Gas - Food - Lodging", which wouldn't fly in the
UK for obvious reasons. In Ontario, Canada (where we also say "gas"),
they formerly used "Fuel - Food - Accommodations" but now conform to
the US style.

Dspite the fact this has to be a *very* low cost solution (after all, its
just a bit of research, and some signage), I doubt it would ever happen.

I believe the system was introduced in the US in conjunction with highway
beautification laws that required roadside billboards to be removed.

Dave Liney:
I can think of several reasons why it won't happen that don't rely on
conspiracy theories.

How do you define 'nearest'? As the crow flies; by road; in time taken?

By road; it's meaningful and objective. But it's not actually just the
nearest places anyway. If there is a cluster of businesses around the
exit, there will be signs for all of them. You might see "food" followed
by a row of three or four fast food or restaurant names (or logos if
they're chain restaurants), and then a later sign will show Burger King
to the right; McDonald's, KFC, and Joe's Local Diner to the left.
Likewise for gas and lodging.

I can see arguments between petrol stations and hotels about who
should be on the list as nearest.

The arguments would be about whether the cutoff rule should be "within
1/2 mile" or "within 1 mile" or "within 1 mile, or nearest within
5 miles if there is nothing within 1 mile"; once a rule is legislated,
that should settle the issue.

The signs will need to be kept up-to-date because the last thing someone
running low on fuel needs is to follow the signs off the motorway to
a place that has shut down.

Yes, well, in *some* states they would agree with that. :-(

Also ... opening time information will have to put on the signs...

Not practical; people wouldn't have enough time to read them all. The
sign just means "there is a gas station", not "there is an open gas
station". They could show 24-hour or not 24-hour, but in my experience
even this is not usually done. If you need gas or food in the middle
of the night, it's your responsibility to find a place that's open.

None of this is meant as a suggestion for what should be done in the UK.
--
Mark Brader | "I noted with some interest that Fahrenheit was
Toronto | also used in the weather forecast, but there the
| gas marks were missing." -- Ivan A. Derzhanski

My text in this article is in the public domain.

In message , Richard J.
writes
There have been several such
service areas for many years, e.g. Aust on M4 (now Severn View on M48),
Gordano on M5, Exeter on M5, in addition to Scratchwood.

Stansted on M11.
--
Roland Perry

"JB" wrote in message
...

Actually I agree they used to be horrible (very occasionally
I'll stumble across an unreconstructed one).

I don't agree! My favourite service station is the unreconstructed Medway on
the M2. I think it used to be called Farthing Corner. It should be listed,
because you can really feel the vision of the original motorway service
stations there. The architect clearly believed in the fahn fahn fahn off der
autobahn. The newer service stations see the motorway as a hotrrible source
of noise and fumes to be ignored at all cost.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

"Robin May" wrote in message
.4...

I've seen signs for non 24-hour service stations
before. They just say "non-24 hour".

There are many such signs on the A2 and A12.

Those signs are useless! I don't care whether the service station is 24-hour
or not, I just want to know if it's open now.

They should use venetian-blind signs that can switch between saying "Service
station" and saying nothing. (What are those venetian blind signs called?)

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

In article , John Rowland
writes

They should use venetian-blind signs that can switch between saying "Service
station" and saying nothing. (What are those venetian blind signs called?)

Dynamic signage.
--
Andrew
Electronic communications can be altered and therefore the integrity of this
communication can not be guaranteed.
Views expressed in this communication are those of the author and not
associations or companies I am involved with.

"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
"Robin May" wrote in message
.4...

I've seen signs for non 24-hour service stations
before. They just say "non-24 hour".

There are many such signs on the A2 and A12.

Those signs are useless! I don't care whether the service station is
24-hour
or not, I just want to know if it's open now.

They should use venetian-blind signs that can switch between saying
"Service
station" and saying nothing. (What are those venetian blind signs called?)

Expensive...:-)
--
Cheers, Steve.
Change from jealous to sad to reply.

"JB" wrote in message
...

In my somewhat limited experience, the USA example is no different than
here. They tend not to have on freeway service areas and those signs you
talk about tend to lead you to the big chains, not the mom&pop everyone is
usually so proud of.

You often find a gas station and a fast food outlet adjacent to a freeway
exit, and a very tall sign advertising their presence, plus roadside
hoardings telling you that you can find Macdonalds at Junction 217, or
whatever, which is 18 miles ahead.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/

"Richard J." wrote in message
...
Martin Underwood wrote:
"Bob Martin" wrote in message
...
IIRC, the plan for the M25 was that it should have 4 service
areas, of which we now have 3 (South Mimms, Thurrock, Clackett
Lane).

Logically, the 4th would sit somewhere around junction 10 (A3) or
junction 11 (M3). As there is another bout of works around J11 at
the moment, has anyone heard if they plan to recitify the
deficiency at the same time ? Or, for that matter, ever?

Given that the south-west quarter of the M25 is the most
intensively used, it's surprising that it wasn't the first to get a
service area. It's also surprising that there aren't signs at each
junction on the M25 to the nearest off-motorway services where you
could at least get a cup of coffee and a Mars Bar, and go to the
loo.

The idea of motorways is to take traffic away from ordinary roads, not
to inject additional traffic into villages which just happen to be close
to a motorway junction. Also, the M25 junctions are quite busy enough
without encouraging extra traffic leaving and entering the M25 at them.

Hence the need for another service station in the south west of the M25 to
prevent anyone who's dying for a pee leaving the motorway temporarily at one
of the junctions in search of services (eg a garage) in a nearby town.


There seems to have been a change in the design of motorway service
stations in recent years. Originally (with the exception of
Scratchwood at the southern end of the M1) two service stations
have always been built - one serving each direction with no vehicle
link between the two. Now (M40 services, M25 services) one service
station is built which is reached by coming right off the motorway
at a junction

This is not a change in design policy. There have been several such
service areas for many years, e.g. Aust on M4 (now Severn View on M48),
Gordano on M5, Exeter on M5, in addition to Scratchwood.

You may be right. I was thinking mainly of the M1 ones since those are the
ones I know best.

- this is probably more efficient as it avoids duplication and
allows the services to be used by non-motorway traffic too. I wonder
why this wasn't done from the start.

It adds traffic to the junction roundabout, possibly requiring a bigger
junction than would otherwise be necessary, and it adds journey time.
It also, in my experience, leads to lower standards in the service area,
perhaps because big does not necessarily mean better. Personally, I
would like to see more small service areas on the French pattern, not
all with full facilities, though they have the advantage of more land
being readily available.

There's always a disadvantage with every advantage. I tend to prefer the
two-services-on-the-motorway model to the one-service-off-the-motorway
because it takes less time to enter and leave. However it would be nice if
there was a road bridge linking the two to allow for U turns when you
realise you've gone the wrong way and if you discover that there's a traffic
jam ahead (so you can double back and take an alternative route). However
the latter is rather contentious: I get the impression that the police would
rather that traffic was trapped stationary on the motorway than being able
to "escape" and clog up roads that aren't designed to take the weight of
traffic.

In message , Terry Harper
writes
You often find a gas station and a fast food outlet adjacent to a freeway
exit, and a very tall sign advertising their presence, plus roadside
hoardings telling you that you can find Macdonalds at Junction 217, or
whatever, which is 18 miles ahead.

Yes, I think what people are missing is that in effect these junctions
on the freeway have a dedicated truck-stop (very much equivalent to our
motorway services) built right next to it. All that differs from one to
the next is whether the fast food is Wendy, Burger King or Macdonalds.

Whereas the services *on* the freeway are more like a massive lay-by and
will have perhaps toilets, picnic area and a few vending machines.

In the UK there just isn't the space, or indeed the demand, to build the
truck-stop facilities. Or as some have hinted, the locals positively
don't want them.
--
Roland Perry