Final Thruway Service Area Reopens, Marking Completion of Statewide Redevelopment Project

By Y.M. Lowy

The Modena Service Area on the southbound side of the Thruway is officially open again, offering drivers a fully rebuilt and modern stop between exit 18 and exit 17. 

The Modena location is the twenty-seventh and final site to return after a multi year redevelopment effort supported by a $450 million private investment. The work covered the entire 570 mile Thruway system and did not use toll or tax dollars.

The larger project launched in 2021. Most of the service areas were rebuilt from the ground up, while four received major renovations. Applegreen, the operator running the sites, added two thousand jobs during the effort. Construction alone accounted for roughly one and a half million work hours.

Drivers have already been using the new facilities across the state. Since the first sites reopened in 2022, more than sixty eight million people have passed through the upgraded stops.