A new Texaco Travel Center is scheduled to open next month in LaPlace, LA, at the intersection of Interstate 10 and U.S. 51.

The 10,000-square-foot truckstop will have showers, a lounge, a restaurant and a convenience store - and, if it gets permission, as many as 50 video poker machines, the maximum allowed in truckstops under Louisiana law.
By state law, the number of video poker machines a truckstop can operate is based on the amount of fuel it sells. To operate the maximum of 50, a truckstop must sell 100,000 gallons of fuel per month, including 40,000 gallons of diesel. Truckstop developers say the location should sell about a million gallons a month of diesel fuel alone.
The new truckstop's main competition, the Speedway half a mile south on U.S. 51, is undergoing an expansion and eventually could offer video poker as well. The expanded truckstop will include a Church's Fried Chicken, a Blimpies' sandwich store and a convenience store, and should be open by mid-March.