I just went out to the Park and Ride and took a couple photos of the signs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plmccordj/6200054997/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/plmccordj/6200059357/

Glad I decided to check in here for the first time in a long time. I will FINALLY have a convenient place to stop for coffee on the way to work again.

Bonus: I'm gonna get three lanes to rock-n-roll down as well. :D

Glad I decided to check in here for the first time in a long time. I will FINALLY have a convenient place to stop for coffee on the way to work again.

Bonus: I'm gonna get three lanes to rock-n-roll down as well. :D

Goodie. You live near me. :-D

I live out around 29th and Peebly.

The truck stop is finally going up. On my way home from work yesterday, I noticed they had installed the poles that would hold the canopy over the gas pumps. Today I came home from work and saw where they have installed eight poles for the actual building itself.

I went out there and took some more pictures of the truck stop this morning to show you the status...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plmccordj/6612948043/

If you click on the picture, you should be able to go into the whole set and see the rest of them.

When will you post the pictures?

When will you post the pictures?

Click on the link. Flickr does not have the .jpg images. I just posted the link and tried to use the image link but did not show up.

Sorry about that.

All I see are blank. :-(

Here you go...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6612948043_1b2588815e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/plmccordj/6612948043/)
Thunder Travel Plaza (http://www.flickr.com/photos/plmccordj/6612948043/) by Paul L McCord Jr (http://www.flickr.com/people/plmccordj/), on Flickr


I went out there and took some more pictures of the truck stop this morning to show you the status...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plmccordj/6612948043/

If you click on the picture, you should be able to go into the whole set and see the rest of them.

Thanks for the pics!

Its cute and named after me. On grand opening day, I will be there for autographs.

Any ideas on when this joint is supposed to open?

This is a pretty big thread on a Love's Truck stop and there isn't even a Loves being built right now. LOL

That is because when this thread was started, construction had not started and we were working on rumor that it was going to be Love's. Once started, we could not change the name. I know the truck stop is paving the parking lot now and installing lights on the canopy over the gas pumps. Three days ago they put up a sign that says Now hiring and has a web site called http://thunderplaza.com.

About a month ago Cox was connecting a line from one of our yards in the neighborhood to run it over to the truck stop so we know they will have cable TV or Internet. The sign says open Spring 2012.

Noticed the other day that there is a liquor/wine store included in the building.

I live in Deerfield Estates neighborhood on the South side of the truck stop and I received a letter from the city for a hearing on 19 Apr 2012 about the truck stop requesting a change to the city rules on signage. All it said was CAT Scale company wants to put a truck scale on the North side of the truck stop and they want to change the rules on the signage. The hearing will be downtown on the third floor that afternoon.

About a month ago, Cox Cable trenched out our front yards to tap into the cable line to run it over to the truck stop. They finally put up a fence behind our house. This weekend, I'll post some pictures.

Noticed the other day that there is a liquor/wine store included in the building.

If nothing else, it make the drivers and lot lizards a tad more appealing to each other.

The truck stop opened last Friday, June 8, 12. It is pretty nice but very busy. If you exit I-40 East at Choctaw Road, there is a lot of traffic there now. Even the Wendy's Hamburgers is open 24 hours.

Sign on the window says that they close at midnight (Wendy's).

But I did get a Frosty to dip my fries in last night!

Thanks for the information.

Well, that also may only be the drive up window that closes. No telling.

Now the title of this thread will finally make some sense. I see that Love's Travel Stops has filed for five building permits today. The permits are for 7401 S. Choctaw Road which is across the street and a little to the North of the old location. The old lot was eight acres and the new lot is 32 acres. I knew they would have to relocate since their old property will be the location of the West bound off ramp for I-40 once the widening project is complete. The new Love's location will be right at the SE 71st and Choctaw location where OKC has plans to install a red light. The main building permit shows it to be 11,071 square feet as shown below.


ob Value($):$3,000,000.00
Number of Buildings:1

Public Owned:No
Construction Type:327-Stores and Customer Services


BUILDING
Permission To:
ErectNumber of Stories:
1Overall Height:
21Square Footage:
11071Existing Use:
VACANTProposed Use Code:
Retail SalesZoning:
C-4

Very cool. Thanks for posting that.

Anyone know what all the yellow line is they are putting in?

Yes. The yellow line work that is happening between SE 44th and SE 59th on the West side of choctaw Road is the gas line being moved away from the road. This is the beginning stages of the utility and right of way being done for the widening project in FY15. Choctaw Road is being widened from two lanes to four lanes from SE 44th to SE 89th in FY15. This is to coincide with the I-40 widening project where I-40 will be widened from four lanes to six lanes beginning at the I-40 and I-240 merge eastward to the County line at mile marker 174. Choctaw and Harrah Road interchanges are being rebuilt with the loop exits removed. Choctaw Road will be getting three new red lights. One on each side of the new I-40 and one at SE 71st and Choctaw Road, right in front of the new Love's Travel Stop and the Harmony Christian Church.

Yup.

And that's probably about the time I'll move back to Moore.

*facepalm*

Yes. The yellow line work that is happening between SE 44th and SE 59th on the West side of choctaw Road is the gas line being moved away from the road. This is the beginning stages of the utility and right of way being done for the widening project in FY15. Choctaw Road is being widened from two lanes to four lanes from SE 44th to SE 89th in FY15. This is to coincide with the I-40 widening project where I-40 will be widened from four lanes to six lanes beginning at the I-40 and I-240 merge eastward to the County line at mile marker 174. Choctaw and Harrah Road interchanges are being rebuilt with the loop exits removed. Choctaw Road will be getting three new red lights. One on each side of the new I-40 and one at SE 71st and Choctaw Road, right in front of the new Love's Travel Stop and the Harmony Christian Church.

So what is the yellow line that is being put in along SE 89th, East of Choctaw Rd. and right next to the road? I haven't seen anything being taken out and moved? Only being put in. Along there and also along I-40 all the way from Del City Passed Choctaw Rd.

The yellow line is the same. The widening is going to go all the way to 89th and the houses are on the West at that place. The orange line you are talking about from Del City Eastward on I-40 is a fiber optic line by ONE-NET. They are the IT department of the Oklahoma Department of Education.

for the past couple of weeks, the land is being prepared! a lot of heavy equipment! anyone knows when it'll be opened? next spring?
and when will the interchange construction begin for I-40 & Choctaw?

If nothing else, it make the drivers and lot lizards a tad more appealing to each other.

Nothing says love like 90 proof.

Crews have completed a LOT of dirt work for the new Loves Travel Plaza. They've also put up the fueling station awnings and begun putting up walls for what I assume will be the convenience store. The dirt work either involves a lot of building up for stability on the back (west) end or Loves is gonna open up a sledding hill there when it snows.

I was out that way last weekend and noticed the amount of dirt work to the west....seemed very odd to me. It seems like it would have made more sense to use a retaining wall or even stair step it down. This way the land really can't be used for anything else....just weird.

how big is this damn thing going to be? they just keep on building and building..does anyone have the final layouts?

how big is this damn thing going to be? they just keep on building and building..does anyone have the final layouts?

If its the Paul's Valley layout, it's a pretty large store. I don't imagine they'll build a brand new one (in a previously successful spot) and not make it the best layout they have.

From the looks of it, they are probably building it large enough to attract truck drivers heading both east and west. I don't know if it has been noted but, the Thunder Travel Plaza is Pilot Travel Center one of Love's major competitors. That is probably having a lot to do with Love's opening such a large location. It will probably be pretty popular with truck traffic because many drivers prefer stopping on the edge of a city instead of in the middle of one. This probably take some business away from Petro with both Pilot and Loves being out on Choctaw Road.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plmccordj/9737213993/

This is the Love's site plan as was shown to us in a neighborhood meeting. We live right next to it so we get meeting invites. Also they have started the Choctaw Road widening project from 44th to 59th. They are taking some of our neighbor's land South of I-40 through eminent domain for the widening here.

I am plmccordj but have lost my login information so I had to create another account. If the board could help me get my other log in password back, I could post from that account.

For some reason the site plan didn't show up. I have it on my Flickr page below...

site_plan | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/plmccordj/9737213993/)

It's a big one all right. Then again, given the anticipated traffic they could probably go bigger if they had enough space to do so.

A McDonalds?

DAMMIT.

/wanted a Taco Bell

Looks like they poured the parking lot last week and put up signage on the weekend for McDonalds and Loves with an "Open Soon" banner across the Loves sign. The heart facing the city was even lit up for a while.

The main buildings are up too.

The old Loves there had a Taco Bell at one time. Very limited menu. Used to drive my wife nuts when I would get food there, she felt that no way the food wouldn't be disgusting. Tasted like regular Taco Bell to me.

My wife sends weekly messages to their Facebook page, telling them that McDonald's drools and Taco Bell rules. But they're not listening.

She loves Taco Bell for some reason.

Yeah, there's already three McDonalds close (north, east and west). I can't see it being a great thing for the chain, except that it'll get good business from the interstate. I'll bet the three McDonalds nearby wish it weren't there, as well. Given the option (and a requirement), I'll opt for a McDonalds that doesn't require me to use what is probably the third most accident-prone interstate intersection.

No kidding. I avoid that intersection like the plague. Luckily, I live off of Peebly...So I don't need to use the Choctaw exits often...Plus, I work nights, so I'm never in traffic around there.

The old Loves there had a Taco Bell at one time. Very limited menu. Used to drive my wife nuts when I would get food there, she felt that no way the food wouldn't be disgusting. Tasted like regular Taco Bell to me.

Perhaps you were both right?

I live at I-40 and Choctaw Road and am thrilled to see McDonald's. The closest one is at I-40 and Douglas and SE 29th at Harrah and NE 23rd West of Choctaw, all at eight miles. Actually it is a perfect place for a McDonald's. In fact, that is the one thing that I look forward to most about this truck stop.

I live at I-40 and Choctaw Road and am thrilled to see McDonald's. The closest one is at I-40 and Douglas and SE 29th at Harrah and NE 23rd West of Choctaw, all at eight miles. Actually it is a perfect place for a McDonald's. In fact, that is the one thing that I look forward to most about this truck stop.

29th and Harrah rd too. Opened a few months ago.

I look forward to being able to see the glowing sign again...Lets me know that I'm almost home, my exit is only a couple of miles further :D

Disclaimer, My life does not ebb and flow with this Love's. All the same...
What is taking them so long? They STILL have that "Open Soon" sign covering the actual sign.
They have a billboard up at the I-240/I-35 intersection (headed west) saying that they're there.
Their CAT scales sign is lit in the morning, now.
They have signage up on the front saying there'll be a McDonalds and Subway there.
The hill out back is more or less groomed.
How long will Love's be content to sit on this without earning income?

They were a supposed to.open in March...before ling it will be may. They don't seem too concerned with it.

I think they're open. The "Open Soon" canvas sign is down and the "Love's" sign and gas prices are lit up.

I think they're open. The "Open Soon" canvas sign is down and the "Love's" sign and gas prices are lit up.

Correct, opened today.

I will have to stop by for some Robertson's Beef Jerky.

I will have to stop by for some Robertson's Beef Jerky.
Is that Love's serving Robertson's? If so I'll have a ham sammich with
mayo and, if I feel like it, cheese.

Is that Love's serving Robertson's? If so I'll have a ham sammich with
mayo and, if I feel like it, cheese.

Doubt they are selling ham sandwiches but every Love's I have ever been in carries Robertson's jerky and beef sticks.