With over 550 stores in 41 states, you don’t have to drive too long on America’s Interstate system before you come across a Love’s Travel Stop. With its iconic “hearts” logo and bright yellow color scheme, this ubiquitous travel plaza company has been steadily expanding its reach since its inception in 1964. For well over a decade now, Snyder & Associates has been aiding Love’s with their expansion efforts across the Midwest and Mountain West states by providing our full contingent of planning, engineering, and site design services.
With a vast array of amenities tailored for each store location, Love’s Travel Stops provide more than your typical convenience store or even truck stop experience. Beyond fuel for auto and semi-truck traffic, Love’s stores often include chain restaurants, tire and maintenance services, dog parks, and even overnight stay accommodations for recreational vehicles. Multiple store design options allow them to create a layout that fits the anticipated volume for each unique location.
Perhaps even more unique about Love’s Travel Plaza is the economic development opportunities that often follow in the wake of one of their new store locations. Love’s has a knack for identifying unserved and underserved communities. The critical infrastructure needed to support a store site is often the catalyst for jumpstarting further development in the area. The Snyder & Associates team has been instrumental in assisting Love’s by working with local boards to ensure an area is appropriately zoned to create mutually beneficial land development opportunities.
The extensive utility needs of a Love’s location require meticulous planning and coordination.
Multi-Disciplinary Service Offering Streamlines Design Process
Our planning and design teams are specially equipped to manage Love’s site development process from start to finish. Beginning with site selection, our team performs the necessary due diligence to ensure Love’s understands the benefits and challenges of each site. From demolition of existing infrastructure and earthwork cut and fill considerations to utility coordination and special environmental issues, we provide detailed cost opinions to help Love’s make the critical go/no-go decisions.
Equally important, our team ensures each location has the proper access points to safely move traffic from a busy interstate to the site, and back again, all while providing adequate separation between car and heavy truck traffic. Love’s business model relies on ease of access for patrons, so we’re always striving to consider the driver’s perspective with each design decision, including creating designs that minimize infrastructure maintenance that could potentially disrupt access in the future.
Unique Site Design Considerations for Expansive Land Development Projects
A construction crew pours the foundation for this Love’s Travel Stop location.
Sometimes covering ten acres of land or more, stormwater runoff considerations are vital for all new Love’s Travel Plaza locations. The vast amount of paving necessary to provide semi-truck parking and maneuverability space has major implications to the existing stormwater infrastructure and typically requires extensive enhancements to meet the mitigation demands of the site. This often requires the construction of numerous stormwater detention basins, as well as oil/water separators to aid in surface water treatment. No matter the situation, our designers offer proactive solutions when it comes to stormwater recommendations.
The Snyder & Associates team has been helping Love’s maximize their development efforts for many years. Our team has extensive experience working with the vast network of professionals required to bring a Love’s Travel Plaza to completion. Whether working with preferred architects, MEP engineers, or permitting specialists to utilizing our in-house surveyors, environmental specialists, and civil engineers, we have the relationships and resources to get the job done.
