Forecourt operator Applegreen has announced plans to invest $70m (€61m) in four new services plazas along the E-740 highway in Denver, Colorado.
Applegreen will be responsible for the construction, operation and maintenances of the sites under a 50-year agreement with the E-470 Public Highway Authority.
Each location will include three branded food and beverage outlets, an Applegreen convenience store, fuelling infrastructure and EV chargers as well as seat areas and toilet facilities.
Construction will commence in the coming days, and the first plaza will be operational by the end of next year. The other three will open shortly afterwards.
“We are delighted to be partnering with E-470 on this exciting new project, which extends our footprint in the United States, and will bring world-class roadside hospitality facilities to travellers in Colorado,” said Joe Barrett, chief executive of Applegreen.
"We are investing $70m to deliver four new state-of-the-art service plazas in Colorado and will begin construction in the coming days."
The E-470 is a 47-mile-long fully tolled public highway around the eastern side of the Denver metropolitan area.
The new service areas will be located at former toll plaza sites that were decommissioned after the E-470 moved fully to cashless electronic tolling.
“This project has been years in the making and represents a bold new chapter for E-470 and our region,” said Joe Donahue, executive director of the E-470 Public Highway Authority.
“We are transforming underutilised infrastructure into something that will directly benefit our customers and communities - by providing services they need today and building in flexibility for the future of travel. And we are proud to be making it a reality without relying on any toll revenue or tax dollars.”
Historically, the E-470 has had no service stations available, meaning drivers have to exit the highway to refuel, eat or drink.
Barrett said that the E-470 project demonstrates Applegreen’s continued commitment to providing world-class facilities to customers in the US and to working in partnership with highway and state authorities there.
Applegreen currently operates 113 highway service plazas in the US, and it is investing $750m to rebuild 18 services plazas in Massachusetts. It will shortly complete a $450m programme to upgrades its 27 plazas on the New York State Thruway.
Applegreen has invested more than €1bn in the US since it bought its first two sites in Long Island in 2014, and it is now one of the largest Irish employers in the US with 7,000 employees.
The company has also committed €1bn over the next five years to fund its expansion in Ireland and the UK.
Applegreen employs about 16,000 people and reported turnover of around €4bn last year. The company operates 200 locations in Ireland and 430 worldwide.
*This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie.
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