Flying J gains I-80 access for truck-service center at Robb

Changes are on the horizon for the swatch of property just south of the Robb Drive exit off the Interstate 80.

"The property just got annexed to the city of Reno," says Jeff Codega, a principal with Codega Planning and Design the firm engineering the site.

But the big hurdle covered recently was negotiation of access to I-80.

That's done, says Codega.

For the price tag of $1 million.

Flying J Inc., a privately held,Utah-based truck stop and trucker services company, owns 48 acres at the Robb Drive exit, says Mike Miller, project director of the firm's property development group.

Plans are to build a truck stop on about 20 acres of that property, with a possibility for commercial sites on the rest.

Flying J, a national company with about 180 truck stops, typically suits its plazas out with casual restaurants, convenience stores, ATMs, drivers' lounges, and driver information kiosks.

Some have Crystal Inns, Flying J Motor Inns or Best Rest Inns onsite as well.

The Reno location noted as a future site on the company's Web site would be a typical plaza, says Miller.

Neighboring property owners, too, could play into the development, adds Codega.

But the only near-certainty at the moment is the Flying J involvement.

With what Codega terms as the first level of approval achieved, the project now goes into several months of master-planning the property.

Meanwhile, as part of its permit process, the project will also be initiating engineering studies on the project's impact on the freeway, says Denise Inda, a district traffic engineer with the Nevada Department of Transportation.