The DeKalb oasis on Interstate 88 will is slated to begin renovations and add new restaurants as early as the end of March, with expected completion by summer 2005.

The project is part of a $94 million effort to revamp the seven oases on Illinois tollroads.

Traffic on I-88 should not be impacted by the construction because the oasis does not go over the road, said Jan Kemp, assistant press secretary for the Illinois State Toll Authority.

McDonald’s has agreed to anchor all the oases. This does not mean much for the DeKalb oasis, since it already has a McDonald’s, but it will constitute a change from other fast-food restaurants at other oases, Kemp said.

The new oasis will include several new restaurants. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Starbucks Coffee, TravelMart Convenience Stores and Tropicana Smoothies, Juices and More! all have signed on to open locations at all the oases, and Fifth Third Bank will provide ATMs, Kemp said.

Panda Express and Subway also have signed on, said Scott Mayer, president of Wilton Partners, a national real estate development firm. Wilton Partners is in the process of negotiating contracts with about six other companies.

ExxonMobil will have gas stations with convenience stores at each oasis as well, said Alex Williams, ExxonMobil operation manager. The DeKalb oasis also may have a car wash, Williams said.

ExxonMobil and Wilton Partners will share the cost of rebuilding, maintaining and operating the oases. It will not cost motorists or the state anything, and the state will share in all profits above operating costs, Kemp said. In return, the companies will have a 25-year lease of the properties.

The March starting date is tentative, but the project is more likely to start in the second half of the year, Williams said.

If the oasis is closed in March, construction on the gas station would be completed by late fall or early winter, and the building would reopen during summer 2005.

Kemp said the Illinois State Toll Authority wanted to transform the oases. Five were opened in 1959. The Lincoln oasis opened in 1968, and the DeKalb oasis opened in 1975.

The new facilities will include features that motorists requested during research of the project, such as family bathrooms and improved outside lighting, Kemp said.

Most other locations will be reconstructed completely, but DeKalb will just be remodeled, Kemp said.