A rendering of Applegreen's proposed design concept for new Massachusetts service plaza buildings. Image courtesy of Applegreen

As the dust settles from Applegreen’s decision to walk away from a controversial service plaza redevelopment contract, Gov. Maura Healey said the state is still trying to figure out where and when it will go from here.

Healey told reporters she thinks the Department of Transportation “ran a transparent process” and that her administration is “evaluating next steps” after Irish retailer Applegreen backed out of the contract talks as rival bidder Global Partners waged media, legal and public relations offensives to block a MassDOT-Applegreen deal.

Asked whether the state had determined whether it will put the entire service plaza contract back out to bid or enter negotiations with runner-up Global, Healey said “not yet, not yet.”

“It’s something…this just happened, and we’re in the process of evaluating that with MassDOT,” she said.

The governor did not directly answer when asked if there is a timeline for a decision.

“You know, my focus is on making sure that we have the very best in terms of quality and service for customers and drivers at those service plazas,” she said. “It’s a very significant contract. This is a major contract for the state. I want to make sure it’s done right, it’s done well, and that at the end of the day it delivers the very best product and quality for our residents, for our customers, for our drivers. So that’s what we’re in the process of evaluating.”

The announcement that Applegreen was walking away from lease talks came a day before the Senate Post Audit Committee was set to hold an oversight hearing on the process that led to the company’s selection. Chairman Mark Montigny said last week that MassDOT “failed to disclose critical information to a legislative oversight committee and then refused to even appear for basic questioning” and urged MassDOT to put it back out to bid.

Since last Tuesday, MassDOT has said that it is “moving forward” on the plaza contract process, but has not offer specifics. Asked on Friday for an update, MassDOT sent a reporter the same exact statement from Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt that it had sent out Tuesday.