CLARENCE, N.Y. — Thursday was the second day the renovated Clarence rest stop on the New York State Thruway was open.

For weary travelers, the new facility got high marks.

"We don't see often places that are like this,” Mike Macchiagovena, traveling from Ontario, Canada to Nashville, said. “A lot of them are kind of old and they haven't been renovated for a while so this is a fresh new look, different furniture. It's bright. It's well done.”

Steven Peterson, who was traveling from Boston home to Bloomington, Minnesota, also thought it was nice in comparison to many of the stops he sees.

"You've got a lot of options to choose from when it comes to food so I like it," he said.

But the project, a $450 million public-private partnership to completely rebuild 23 facilities and upgrade four more, has received its fair share of criticism since Phase One began in 2021. Assemblyman Mike Norris, R-Lockport, the ranking Republican on the transportation committee, said he's voiced concerns about what he's seen firsthand in his travels back and forth from Albany to Western New York.

"We hear a lot about making sure our drivers are protected from drowsiness and everything else so we would like them to sit down to rest,” Norris said. “I can tell you that there's just not enough room there for families to spread out, to have their food, to be comfortable and take that rest.”

The assemblyman said the issue appears to be, because there are fewer stops available, more people are ending up in some of the smaller facilities at the same time, creating lines for food, bathrooms and few places to sit. The Thruway Authority said seven locations are currently closed, under renovation.

"With those being empty or not being accessible, that's caused a bottleneck and that's what's happening so for example, Chittenango where we oftentimes will stop as a halfway point, there's just a lot of people trying to access which is a smaller facility," Norris said.

The Clarence facility meanwhile, at about 14,600 square feet, is in the second largest class of facilities. New Baltimore, which opened Thursday in the Capital Region, is the largest at more than 20,000 square feet. However, four more will close following the July 4 holiday.

"Once that's all built and operational, the Thruway Authority feels comfortable, based upon my discussions with them, that there will be a nice flow of traffic but it will be awhile to do that," Norris said.

The Thruway Authority said no tax or toll dollars are being used for construction with partner Applegreen investing $450 million.