Long delayed development project on I-85 in Tuskegee set to open in October
A development project at exit 38 on Interstate 85 that has stopped and started several times is on track to finally be finished this October. If you’ve traveled from Montgomery to Auburn on Interstate 85 in the past several years, you’ve most likely noticed a new but unfinished, deserted gas station at Exit 38 in Tuskegee. Officials originally broke ground on the infrastructure for the project almost eight years ago in August of 2016. But, there were problems with developers, and then the Covid-19 pandemic caused delays.
The gas station complex was supposed to open in 2023, but never did. Now a new buyer – a former board member at Tuskegee University who served as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, and is a veterinarian – has taken over the development. Tuskegee Mayor Tony Haygood says the new owner is working with Pilot Travel Centers, which has the largest network of travel centers in North America. Mayor Haygood says the company will invest an extra 8 to 10 million dollars in the project.
“It’s important because we had it there a number of years ago. There was a lot of excitement about it and expectations and jobs coming, and it got stalled. The city had to put (money) into it, the utilities board helped us a lot, but we still couldn’t get it going. So, it’s important now that a private development has come in and has really supported it and is helping to get it going,” said Haygood.
Mayor Haygood says construction crews are working fast, and he expects the Pilot Travel Center to be open by the end of October. A hotel is planned for the area too. There was a unique stipulation by the hotel franchise that construction could not be started on a hotel until the travel center was completed. So, once it opens in October, even more jobs could be be coming to Tuskegee in the next several years. Mayor Haygood says several developers are already making offers to acquire the land and build the proposed hotel.
