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[Brandon]

A few comments on the Closed Exits thread made me think this deserves a thread of its own.

The Indiana Toll Road has a few.

MM 73 WB, used for a salt dome and maintenance yard: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.730319,-86.324091&spn=0.004652,0.010568&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.730319,-86.324091&panoid=M5g2aI1CqW7Ml0iWSAlZGw&cbp=12,12.3,,0,-1.01

MM 73 EB, used as a state police HQ.  Last snack bar building left on the Toll Road: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.730322,-86.324086&spn=0.004652,0.010568&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.730537,-86.323359&panoid=Iy7qwXVZ2wjh66TD8t10Uw&cbp=12,166.62,,0,9.32

I-94, Michigan, MM 73 EB, former Oshtemo Rest Area: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=42.237023,-85.662251&spn=0.003263,0.005284&t=h&z=18
Streetview: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=42.237589,-85.663083&spn=0.003263,0.005284&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=42.237585,-85.663445&panoid=MrAOj7xjsKQiOv8EsqTDXQ&cbp=12,130.51,,0,-1.37

Others?  With links and/or photographs, please.

[1995hoo]

The Jersey Turnpike had one on the northbound side where Exit 13A is now–it was named for Admiral William Halsey, but there was no corresponding Uncle Albert Service Area on the southbound side.

You can see the remnants on the Google Maps satellite view just to the right of the interchange: http://goo.gl/maps/zpsYw  It's visible in the 1979 aerial view on HistoricAerials.com: http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=8E-06&lat=40.6663116502028&lon=-74.1797436928712&year=1979

[PHLBOS]

Further south in the Garden State along I-295 Northbound in Burlington Twp.

In its final years of operation, this rest stop became known as the Howard Stern Rest Stop after 1995.

The southbound side of I-295 in the same area also shows traces of an abandoned rest stop.

I-295 Rest Stops

In Sturbridge, MA along Mashapaug Road (former MA 15) before it meets I-84 Westbound; traces of what was once a rest stop & restaurant many decades ago.

Abandoned Rest Stop/Restaurant along Mashapaug Rd.

[1995hoo]

After making my prior post I recalled that the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike segment east of Breezewood had a service area, the Cove Valley service plaza. The site is visible (the current Turnpike routing is at the top left corner of the image): http://goo.gl/maps/y8Eo7  I have never been there. The picture on Wikipedia makes it look like the pavement is all that's left.

[vdeane]

The Berkshire spur of the thruway has closed service plazas just west of exit B1.  Many of the rest areas NY closed in 2011 probably count as well even though they're officially "temporary" (though the one on I-81 south of NY 49 is now signed solely as a truck inspection with all mentions of the former rest area removed).

[rawmustard]

I-94, Michigan, MM 73 EB, former Oshtemo Rest Area: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=42.237023,-85.662251&spn=0.003263,0.005284&t=h&z=18
Streetview: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=42.237589,-85.663083&spn=0.003263,0.005284&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=42.237585,-85.663445&panoid=MrAOj7xjsKQiOv8EsqTDXQ&cbp=12,130.51,,0,-1.37

Not that far away is the NB US-131 abandoned Portage rest area at MM 29, although it was converted to truck-only parking. I recall this one being abandoned before the Oshtemo rest area, however. A similar fate befell the I-69 NB rest area north of Tekonsha at approximately MM 28.

[briantroutman]

After making my prior post I recalled that the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike segment east of Breezewood had a service area, the Cove Valley service plaza. The site is visible (the current Turnpike routing is at the top left corner of the image): http://goo.gl/maps/y8Eo7  I have never been there. The picture on Wikipedia makes it look like the pavement is all that's left.

Yes, that is all that's left: The parking lot, the curb around where the plaza building stood, and the service road that employees used to get to the plaza from Pumping Station Road.

[jp the roadgeek]

CT 15 Wilbur Cross Parkway at about MM 45 at the top of the hill leading down to West Rock Tunnel.  Couple of grassy areas with ghost ramps leading to and from them that are obviously remnants of old rest areas.

[Beeper1]

The northeast has quite a few of these. 

I-91 NB just entering Vermont has an abandoned Welcome Center. This was closed in the early 2000s when the new center opened a few miles up the road. Buildings are gone but lights and parking lot remain overgrown.

I-95 NB in RI just before the RI-138 interchange has an abandoned Welcome Center.  Most of it is still intact, as this area was only closed a couple years ago. 

I-295 SB in RI just west of the Blackstone River bridge.  The buildings are gone, but the ramps and lots are still there overgrown and occasionally used as a staging area for DOT equipment. This was abandoned back in 1989. The NB counterpart to this was abandoned for years but rebuilt and reopened years ago.   Also near here is an abandoned weigh station on the SB side of the highway.

MA-2 WB just west of Gardner. This has been closed for years. Not sure if this ever had buildings, if it did they are gone.

I-195 EB in MA just inside the state line is an abandoned welcome center.  Everything is still there, just boarded up. Closed about 5 years ago.

Vermont has quite a few abandoned rest areas that were closed in the last 10 years or so.  I think there is also one on CT-8 NB somewhere near Torrington.

[briantroutman]

Cove Valley service plaza...

Here's what that looks like as of fall 2013–standing near the re-entry ramp and looking eastward, back toward the plaza. The two parallel lines of saplings and brush (going away from the camera) are where the fuel pump islands would have been located, and the dense square of trees and brush in the mid ground is the location of the former plaza building–which is surrounded by pavement on all sides. It's hard to see from this shot, but there's a large expanse of pavement (the main parking area) further behind.



The photo below is from the opposite angle, standing at the exit ramp from the turnpike to the plaza. The Jersey barriers, turned 90° to the direction of travel, barricade what would have been the car entrance to the plaza. The truck entrance was to the right of that overgrown patch of trees, and there would have been a " <–CARS | TRUCKS –>" sign assembly right there. Around 2005, an approximately 4 ft. high and 10 ft. wide ridge of dirt running the entire length of the plaza area appeared over what used to be the curb and sidewalk separating the westbound lanes from the service plaza parking lot. As you can see, it has subsumed most of the right-hand through lane.



In addition to Cove Valley, the PA Turnpike has several other decommissioned and demolished service areas. The most similar to Cove Valley is Path Valley, located on the eastbound side just east of the Tuscarora Tunnel (http://bit.ly/1d8WIBJ). Path Valley was open until at least the early '80s, but business suffered greatly as motorists were drawn to the newer and larger Sideling Hill plaza (which served both directions whereas its predecessor served only westbound traffic). I found an article (http://bit.ly/1dkKlnC) in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette where Exxon and Howard Johnson's (who still had the concession contracts at the time) actually petitioned the PTC to close that plaza because it was a money-loser.

There were also plazas like this one (http://bit.ly/1aoitwK) near the US 222 interchange (Reading) where the plaza building was not demolished but instead sold to a private company and reused for other purposes. The former Denver Service Plaza is now Denver Cold Storage. I believe there are a few others that are still standing but used for another purpose–one just west of the US 15 interchange (http://bit.ly/1a7Tm0z) and I think another out west near Pittsburgh. There may be others.

[thenetwork]

Here is a pair of abandoned Rest Areas on I-90 between Ashtabula and Conneaut, OH

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=ashtabula+ohio&hl=en&ll=41.862817,-80.68413&spn=0.009748,0.026157&sll=41.730522,-86.326929&sspn=0.004916,0.013078&t=h&hnear=Ashtabula,+Ohio&z=16

A plausible reason for abandonment is because they were too close to the PA Welcome Center on EB I-90 about 10 minutes away and a newer hybrid OH Welcome Center/Weigh Station on WB I-90 just inside the Ohio line.

[Beeper1]

MA-2 westbound in Ayer, just before the Fort Devens exit.  This was closed when the rest area just about 5 miles further down the road was upgraded.  The pavement is mostly ripped up. but the light poles remain and the area is fenced off.

Though most of the rest areas recently closed in NY were considered "temporary" closures, the closure of the Schroon Lake rest areas on I-87 in the Adirondacks is permanent, due to failure of the septic systems and close proximity to the huge and new High Peaks rest areas.  Everything at Schroon Lake is intact, including signage, but they are gated off.

There are two abandoned Service Areas on the Taconic Parkway. One just north of I-84 that is blocked off, and one further north at Todd Hill that is now a park and ride lot. 

Northern State Parkway on Long Island has an abandoned service area at Dix Hills.  The original 1930s stone building still remains, abandoned.  A pair of similar abandoned 1930s service stations are abandoned on each side of the Sawmill Parkway in  Hastings.   Southern state parkway has an abandoned service station in Amityville, though all that remains are some closed ramps.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky has torn a few down, including I-64 eastbound near the Jefferson-Shelby county line (replaced by a new welcome center a bit farther east), some on I-65 between E-town and the Mammoth Cave area, and two on I-75 (one in each direction) in Madison County (ostensibly replaced by the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea but the facilities are not open 24/7). In each case, everything is torn down, including the ramps and the parking lots, and the contour of the area is changed.

Some weigh stations on I-64 have been closed as well, including between Shelbyville and Frankfort and one eastbound between Morehead and Olive Hill.

In most cases, if you didn't know they used to be there, you wouldn't know they had existed.

[1]

I-88 in New York has 2 rest areas in each direction. One in each direction is closed and probably will never be opened again.

[lepidopteran]

(This is partly re-posted from the thread about closed exits)

There was a pair of rest areas on I-71 about 20 miles southwest of Columbus, OH.  Someone told me they were closed due to prostitution activity going on there, but I think it was more likely the sprawling development in the Grove City area that made other "rest" options available.  Also, there was a rather steep incline to access the area on the SB side.  The ramps, now reduced to dirt paths, are still readily visible.
https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d5589!2d-83.1780545!3d39.8172118!2m1!1e3&fid=7

There is also an abandoned rest area on I-70 EB near St. Clairsville, OH.  Not sure if it's barricaded off, and GSV shows heaps of gravel on the parking area, but the pavement seems to be fully intact.  I have a distant memory, unconfirmed, that at one time you had to exit at the rest area and follow a long C/D-type road in order to get off at Mall Rd./Banfield Rd.  Again, I think they closed this one due to nearby commercial development.
https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d4276!2d-80.8827202!3d40.0687087!2m1!1e3&fid=7

There were also two rest areas on I-70 in and around the Huber Heights, OH area near Dayton.  The EB one was between the OH-202 and OH-201 exits, and on the WB side it was between OH-201 and the OH-4/OH-235 interchange.  These disappeared in the early '80s, probably due to the increasing development in the area, and the ramps were seriously underpowered -- there was a very short, tight curve between the actual exit and the parking area.  The EB location can be spotted by the wooded area along the route and a break in the brick soundwall.  Evidence of the WB location seems to be obliterated.
EB location
WB location

[lepidopteran]

How about this one, on I-79 NB about 7 miles south of Washington, PA?  It seems like half of the pavement -- the "lead-in" portion -- has been removed.  There also a SB weigh station in that vicinity that looks to have its building removed.

[rickmastfan67]

How about this one, on I-79 NB about 7 miles south of Washington, PA?  It seems like half of the pavement -- the "lead-in" portion -- has been removed. 

No idea about that one.  That's been that way as long as I can remember.

There also a SB weigh station in that vicinity that looks to have its building removed.

Don't think that one ever had a building.  I remember using it once in the last 10 years and it didn't have facilities back then.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Colorado closed rest areas both directions along I-25 between Colorado Springs and Denver, located around mile 170. This leaves a large gap between the rest areas near Pueblo at around mile 114, and the rest area near Ft. Collins at mile 268. The ostensible reason for closing the rest areas, which were located on the north side of Monument Hill, was difficulty in maintaining the septic systems. I heard also that there were issues with drug dealing and prostitution.

Those closed rest areas were repurposed as chain-up and chain-off stations, open only during periods of snow when truckers might require chains. Their location for that purpose seems not ideal, since southbound you have to climb a bit out of Castle Rock to reach the chain-up station.

[Android]

Colorado seems to not like to keep rest areas!

I remember the rest stop near the WY state line on I-25.  On the west side, southbound, it wasn't more than a wide shoulder parking area.  On the east, northbound side it was more, a small parking lot you looped around through.  There were signs talking about the unusual rock formation the highway splits as it goes through there - it's a "Natural Fort" and was the site of a battle between a couple of Native American tribes.  The rocks got defaced a lot and access on and off the Interstate wasn't that great, I think those combined to the decision to close these down.  You can still access the parking lot on the east side off of the gravel frontage road though.  I've climbed around the rocks in the area a few times over the years.  All of the signs are long gone, and this was never a full rest area with toilets.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.954331,-104.923671&spn=0.003768,0.006834&t=h&z=17


Now over on US34, just west of where it splits off of I-76, and north of Empire Reservoir, is this abandoned rest area.  I have no idea how long ago it was shut down, it's ancient.  The toilet building is still there, along with a sign or two.  I've seen farm equipment parked around it at times over the years.   I snapped this photo I'm guessing in the late 90s, maybe early 00s. 



Looking it up on Google Maps, still looks about the same:

https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.2753,-104.133192&spn=0.000982,0.001878&t=h&z=19

[TEG24601]

I-96 EB in Novi, MI.  http://goo.gl/maps/uZlOh - The Rock Showplace now sits on the site, but you can see the remnants of the onramp near the NE section of the parking lot.


I-90 EB and WB near Sprague, WA. http://goo.gl/maps/Ufuza - All that is left is the graded land where the rest areas used to be.  I remember them being there in the mid-90s.

[busman_49]

I-77 south of the OH 241 exit used to have a couple of rest areas, one on the northbound side & one on the southbound side.  Looking at Google Maps, I think I have pinpointed the location:
http://goo.gl/maps/WWI5N

I believe these were eliminated sometime in the 90s during a construction project along the highway.

[roadman]

I-95 northbound and southbound at the Rowley/Georgetown line.  What are now only weigh stations were once full service plazas with gas stations and restaurants.

[PHLBOS]

I-95 northbound and southbound at the Rowley/Georgetown line.  What are now only weigh stations were once full service plazas with gas stations and restaurants.

IIRC, those service plazas (along with other rest areas along that stretch of I-95) bit the dust when the DPW widened highway during the mid-70s.

Those weigh stations were constructed in the early-to-mid-80s when MA was forced by the feds to allow tandem-trailers to utilize Interstates.  Prior to that time; tandem-trailers were only allowed along the Mass Pike (I-90).  Such was a concession to those truckers when the the federal gas tax (which remained at 4 cents a gallon since 1959) was raised in 1982.

[vdeane]

I wonder why the feds forced MA to allow tandem-trailers on interstates.  In NY they're Thruway only.

[NE2]

Those weigh stations were constructed in the early-to-mid-80s when MA was forced by the feds to allow tandem-trailers to utilize Interstates.  Prior to that time; tandem-trailers were only allowed along the Mass Pike (I-90).  Such was a concession to those truckers when the the federal gas tax (which remained at 4 cents a gallon since 1959) was raised in 1982.

Are you sure about this?
http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/nat_freight_stats/nhslongcombveh2011.htm
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/legsregs/directives/fapg/cfr06582.htm

ACCESS: Makeup and breakup areas. Tandem trailer units shall not leave the Turnpike right-of-way and shall be assembled and disassembled only in designated areas.