New truck stop opening up in Riverton

RIVERTON, Ill. (WAND) - A new truck stop is opening up in Riverton.

The Travel America Truck Plaza is located at 2855 Overpass Road and will open tomorrow.

Village officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony today with the owners and managers of the truck stop. They are hoping to pull in traffic from the people who use the exit to get to Springfield.

Tom Rader, the Village President, says the truck stop is a necessity. It is the only place to get gas that is less than a mile off Interstate 72 between Springfield and Decatur.

He says this is important for everyday commuters as well as truck drivers who are transporting Illinois goods to other states.

"With Decatur having a hub over there, there, you have a lot of similar traffic that goes back and forth on I-72," said Rader. "There was a shortage of places for truckers to stay overnight in the area. So there was another reason we wanted to try to get a truck stop here so we could help ease some of that congestion to along with your rest areas or the other truck stops in the area."

Truck stop employees say they hope to bring joy to these critical workers who are looking for a comfortable place to take a break.

"I'd really like to have everybody come in here happy leave happy," said John Dove, General Manager of the new truck stop. "I want I want to make my customers happy and have them returning. I want really good experiences."

Rader says that the new truck stop will have economic benefits as well. It will encourage travelers to explore Riverton

"We'll have a Little Caesars inside of it, it's going to have a taco John's inside of it," said Rader. "We have diesel, we have places for trucks to stay overnight and then we have our gas pumps out here to give people a choice at the interstate and within the town to have options. "

Construction began in 2019, but was slowed during the pandemic. The developers struggled to get all of the materials needed to open the business due to supply chain issues.