Turnpike station conversions begin next week

Gas service at the Massachusetts Turnpike's Westborough service plaza will be shut down from Tuesday through Saturday next week as Gulf Oil LP begins switching its turnpike gas stations from the Exxon brand to Gulf.

Turnpike spokesman Macdonald J. Daniel said this afternoon all 10 other turnpike plazas will remain open from Sept. 4 to Sept. 8 as work is underway the Westborough plaza, on the westbound side of the toll road. Work will have no impact on travel through Labor Day Weekend, three of the busiest days of the year for travel on the turnpike, Daniel said.

The current schedule for other plaza closings to accommodate replacing the Exxon brand with Gulf, Daniel said, is:

-- Week of Sept. 10: Blandford, between exits 2 and 3, eastbound and westbound plazas.
-- Week of Sept. 17: Lee, between exits 1 and 2, eastbound and westbound plazas
-- Some time after Sept. 24: Plazas in Charlton (both ways), Framingham (westbound), and Natick (eastbound).

Gulf and the Turnpike Authority hope to have the project completed by mid-October.

In addition to changing the brand and converting shops to Gulf Express, Newton-based Gulf said it will install faster-dispensing pumps and speedier credit-card transaction processing equipment.

The 11 Turnpike service plazas also will offer free coffee to late-night travelers between 10 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday, Daniel said.
(By Peter J. Howe, Globe staff)