The controversy over who should run 18 highway rest stop service plazas in Massachusetts is headed to court.

Waltham-based Global Partners announced Monday that it is suing MassDOT, which awarded a 35-year contract for the service areas to competitor Applegreen in June. The lawsuit alleges that MassDOT is not complying with public records requests as it tries to finalize the takeover agreement with Applegreen.

Global Partners has said the contract should have gone to a local company and contends that their bid was $1 billion higher - a number disputed by MassDOT and Applegreen. 

Global Partners lawsuit against MassDOT

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that MassDOT failed to produce requested records about potential conflicts of interest. Global Partners claims there are allegations that MassDOT chief development officer Scott Bosworth had tried to get a job with Applegreen parent company Blackstone Infrastructure Partners shortly before the bidding process began.  

"This is a blatant attempt to run out the clock on transparency," Global Partners CEO Eric Slifka said in a statement. "MassDOT is stonewalling the public's right to know while rushing to lock in a decades-long deal that could cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion in lost guaranteed revenue."

WBZ-TV has reached out to MassDOT for comment on the lawsuit.

Blackstone said in a statement that "there is absolutely no truth to Global Partners' allegations" about Bosworth. 

"Disappointingly, in this lawsuit, Global is once again wasting the Commonwealth's time and taxpayer dollars in a desperate attempt to reverse an exhaustive two-year process and an award that was made on its merits," Applegreen chairman Bob Etchingham said in a statement. "Applegreen won because we had the best proposal: best for the Commonwealth and best for consumers."  

Highway service plaza contract

The contract awarded to Applegreen, a company that was founded in Ireland, calls for nine plazas to be razed and rebuilt while nine others will be significantly renovated. Many of the affected rest stops are on the Mass Pike, including the Natick, Framingham, Westboro and Charlton plazas.

Applegreen, which operates more than two dozen service plazas in New York, is pledging to invest $750 million into rebuilding the service areas with fresh exterior designs, more parking, better bathrooms and children's play areas. The company said it is ready to "hit the ground running" in January and expects the work will be done by 2028.

In a recent interview with WBZ-TV, Slifka said that the Applegreen contract is "not a done deal" and said the bidding process should be investigated. MassDOT responded by saying that Applegreen "has the best experience, will start faster and finish faster" and "had the only plan to transform all 18 plazas to better serve customers for the next 35 years."