April 20, 2024
Shaw Local
NewsSubscribePrep SportsElectionNewsletterObituarieseNewspaperThe SceneEvent Calendar

Plan for Houbolt Road truck stop advances

Joliet zoning board recommends approval for project at Hollywood and Mound roads

By Bob Okon
Cars pass down rt. 6 at the intersection of Hollywood Rd. on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, in Joliet, Ill. A bridge across the Des Plaines River is proposed at the intersection of Rt. 6 and Houbolt Road.

A semitrailer on Route 6 passes the location where the future Houbolt Road bridge will reach Hollywood Road. (Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com)

The developer of a proposed truck stop said it would serve truckers using the future Houbolt Road bridge so they would not need to use gas stations in residential areas.

Timber Hill Group was attracted to the future site because of the Houbolt Road bridge project, Ryan Battistoni with the Chicago-based developer told the Joliet Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday.

The zoning board voted to recommend approval of a special use permit for the project. The City Council is slated to take the final vote on Oct. 19.

The toll bridge now being built over the Des Plaines River will provide a direct route between the CenterPoint Intermodal Center and Interstate 80.

The truck stop would be built on the southwest corner of Mound and Hollywood roads. Hollywood Road becomes Houbolt Road at I-80, and the truck stop location is near the northern end of the Houbolt Road bridge.

“It is important to provide the drivers, as well as companies, diesel fuel options without having to go into the residential areas,” Battistoni said, noting that other options now available are a few miles away.

The proposal is the second plan presented for a truck stop at the north end of the bridge. Another plan has been approved for Hollywood Road and Route 6. No user has been identified yet for either site.

The plan for the Mound Road site includes a 9,600-square-foot convenience store with food options, a fast food drive-thru, separate fueling areas for cars and trucks, 78 parking stalls for semitrailers and 52 parking stalls for automobiles.