It’s not fully open to the public, but the One9 and 5R travel plaza complex in far west Emporia is opening in stages.
Both sides of the complex — the One9 portion for semis and other heavy trucks on the north side, 5R on the south for passenger vehicles — officially opened Friday. Sbarro has also opened, with India Eats and Starbucks to start their operations later.
This marks a major milestone in a project better than 6 years in the public eye after it was announced right before the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020. Groundbreaking took place almost a year ago. The development was almost sold to LV Petroleum this past July.
With the travel plaza coming online, work continues behind the scenes to start construction on a strip mall shopping complex and hotel immediately east of the travel plaza. Retail and hotel partners have not been announced and a construction timeline is pending.
This continues significant construction underway in west Emporia, with QuikTrip opening to the public this summer and the recent opening of PetSmart at the Emporia Pavilions. The One9/5R facility sits directly east of the Flying J travel plaza and just southwest of QuikTrip.
Click here for KVOE’s YouTube channel, including video from the new travel plaza.
