10 PHOTOS, Love's Travel Stop Makes Joliet Its New Home, City Hall, Chamber Of Commerce Rejoice

JOLIET, IL — It took eight years and a lengthy lawsuit filed at the Will County Courthouse trying to stop the construction, but Love's Travel Stop emerged victorious, defeating several angry nearby homeowners and property owners who did not want Love's to become their new next-door neighbor.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce and city of Joliet economic development director Paulina Martinez celebrated the ribbon-cutting for the impressive and well-landscaped multi-million-dollar construction project on Joliet's far east side. The end result is the addition of Joliet's very own Love's Travel Center at the Interstate 80 exit for Briggs Street.

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Love's General Manager Cade McDougal told Joliet Patch that his new Love's Travel Center, which has a New Lenox Road address, has 75 employees. The property is massive. There are 91 parking stalls in the back for semi-tractor trailers and nine diesel fuel pumps for the trucks.

In the front, there are 18 fuel stations for passenger vehicles and 13 parking stalls for semi cabs without tractors. The inside of Love's features a Hardee's Charbroiled Burgers fast-food restaurant. There is also the Love's Fresh Kitchen offering deli sandwiches, burgers, chicken wraps and more.

The Love's has seven showers inside the business for travelers, presumably over-the-road truckers, needing to wash up after a long cross-country journey along Interstate 80.

In addition to bringing the 75 jobs, one of the greatest assets Love's brings to the city of Joliet is revenue. The fuel center should generate an enormous amount of money for the city of Joliet's coffers in terms of fuel taxes and sales tax revenue from inside its store.

Although 4 p.m. Wednesday marked the official Joliet Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting event, McDougal informed Joliet Patch that his Love's Travel Stop has been open since May 14.

Unlike most of Joliet's retail businesses, the new Love's is now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.