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Author Topic: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway  (Read 7689 times)

TheHighwayMan394

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #50 on: February 11, 2022, 02:42:38 PM »

This got me thinking of another subset of this topic: rest areas that serve multiple independent routes

-the I-35 Thompson Hill welcome center that froggie posted serves US 2 as well
-the welcome center in La Crosse, MN is accessible to and from I-90 and US 14/61

Totally forgot the La Crosse example.

I'm more surprised the pedantic wing of the board didn't jump on me for my sloppy "La Crosse, MN"...
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webny99

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #51 on: February 11, 2022, 02:49:16 PM »

And then there's Angola, which in terms of facilities shared by both directions of traffic, I think is better than the other examples mentioned so far for several reasons:

1. Ramps are on the right so traffic doesn't have to enter/exit from the left lane
2. Doesn't require a massively wide median since parking isn't in the median
3. You get to walk over the highway in a covered bridge, which is pretty cool
4. For toll roads, it can't be used to U-turn since the bridges are pedestrian-only

So yeah, all of that is basically a long way of saying Angola is one of the best service areas there is.  :biggrin:



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HighwayStar

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #52 on: February 11, 2022, 03:12:17 PM »

And then there's Angola, which in terms of facilities shared by both directions of traffic, I think is better than the other examples mentioned so far for several reasons:

1. Ramps are on the right so traffic doesn't have to enter/exit from the left lane
2. Doesn't require a massively wide median since parking isn't in the median
3. You get to walk over the highway in a covered bridge, which is pretty cool
4. For toll roads, it can't be used to U-turn since the bridges are pedestrian-only

So yeah, all of that is basically a long way of saying Angola is one of the best service areas there is.  :biggrin:

This seems like a good design in a lot of ways. The bridge is probabally cheap enough to warrant using it in some cases so that the middle can host combined restaurant facilities.
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1995hoo

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #53 on: February 11, 2022, 03:14:04 PM »

^^^^

On the other hand, the two I noted on the Northeast Extension have the peculiarity that you get to drive on the left to enter and exit the service areas from the northbound carriageway, which is kind of interesting even if not necessarily all that special. You still exit and enter the highway on the right. (I've never stopped at Sideling Hill, but Google Maps indicates it works the same way.)

https://goo.gl/maps/72T1ZXPeGtSkqqxd6


(Edited to add: The ramp layout looks vaguely vulgar when seen on a map.)
« Last Edit: February 11, 2022, 03:16:20 PM by 1995hoo »
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webny99

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #54 on: February 11, 2022, 03:34:26 PM »

On the other hand, the two I noted on the Northeast Extension have the peculiarity that you get to drive on the left to enter and exit the service areas from the northbound carriageway, which is kind of interesting even if not necessarily all that special. You still exit and enter the highway on the right. (I've never stopped at Sideling Hill, but Google Maps indicates it works the same way.)

https://goo.gl/maps/72T1ZXPeGtSkqqxd6

That's a reasonable design too, but I'm surprised they didn't install anti-glare blades on the wrong-way bridge. It certainly could be confusing for first-time users.
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1995hoo

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #55 on: February 11, 2022, 03:43:44 PM »

On the other hand, the two I noted on the Northeast Extension have the peculiarity that you get to drive on the left to enter and exit the service areas from the northbound carriageway, which is kind of interesting even if not necessarily all that special. You still exit and enter the highway on the right. (I've never stopped at Sideling Hill, but Google Maps indicates it works the same way.)

https://goo.gl/maps/72T1ZXPeGtSkqqxd6

That's a reasonable design too, but I'm surprised they didn't install anti-glare blades on the wrong-way bridge. It certainly could be confusing for first-time users.

That's an interesting point. I've never been there at night, but certainly driving on the other side creates an issue with headlight glare. Maybe it's such a short distance that they haven't perceived a problem. I do remember the last time we stopped at Hickory Run (June 2019) it was a rainy, foggy day on which reasonable drivers would be using headlights, but I just don't remember noticing any glare issues. The road wasn't too busy, so that surely contributed.

That covered bridge at the Thruway area you posted is pretty spiffy.




Edited to add: BTW, regarding median-located rest areas where you exit and re-enter the highway on the right, the well-known oddity on I-85 in North Carolina may be the most unique.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2022, 04:44:22 PM by 1995hoo »
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Beeper1

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #56 on: March 10, 2022, 11:01:59 PM »

Maine Welcome Center off I-95 in Houlton requires exiting onto US-1.

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Flint1979

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #57 on: March 11, 2022, 06:38:56 AM »

There's this fun example....the rest area along the State Route 11 freeway in northeast Ohio.  While it is directly on the freeway, northbound traffic must cross the southbound lanes at-grade to access the rest area. Also, there are no acceleration lanes when getting back onto the freeway in either direction.  The freeway isn't very busy, but it's still dangerous.

MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/NBNMotmtj5Za6EPU8

I see the speed limit is 70 mph on there. Interesting design!
Ohio has some expressways with a 70 mph, like a portion of US 30.
I love US-30 in Ohio, I've used it to shunpike before.
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1995hoo

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #58 on: March 11, 2022, 08:25:26 AM »

There's this fun example....the rest area along the State Route 11 freeway in northeast Ohio.  While it is directly on the freeway, northbound traffic must cross the southbound lanes at-grade to access the rest area. Also, there are no acceleration lanes when getting back onto the freeway in either direction.  The freeway isn't very busy, but it's still dangerous.

MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/NBNMotmtj5Za6EPU8

I see the speed limit is 70 mph on there. Interesting design!
Ohio has some expressways with a 70 mph, like a portion of US 30.
I love US-30 in Ohio, I've used it to shunpike before.

We used US-30 a couple of years ago to go from Dayton to Canton (I-75 north to Beaverdam, then US-30 east to Canton). Hardly the most direct route, of course, but we'd already used the more direct Interstate route, so I wanted to go a different way. US-30 was a great road except for a work zone near Mansfield. Very relaxing drive, almost nobody on the road for most of the way.
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"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
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commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

webny99

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #59 on: March 11, 2022, 08:52:34 AM »

Ohio has some expressways with a 70 mph, like a portion of US 30.
I love US-30 in Ohio ...
... US-30 was a great road ... Very relaxing drive, almost nobody on the road for most of the way.

Exactly this, except replace US-30 with US-35. The section from Chillicothe to I-71 ranks very near the top of my favorite roads, and the 70 mph speed limit is certainly among the reasons why.
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D-Dey65

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #60 on: March 11, 2022, 09:58:38 AM »

And then there's Angola, which in terms of facilities shared by both directions of traffic, I think is better than the other examples mentioned so far for several reasons:

1. Ramps are on the right so traffic doesn't have to enter/exit from the left lane
2. Doesn't require a massively wide median since parking isn't in the median
3. You get to walk over the highway in a covered bridge, which is pretty cool
4. For toll roads, it can't be used to U-turn since the bridges are pedestrian-only

So yeah, all of that is basically a long way of saying Angola is one of the best service areas there is.  :biggrin:

These kind of features also exist on the Illinois Tollway Oases.
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Flint1979

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #61 on: March 11, 2022, 08:08:04 PM »

There's this fun example....the rest area along the State Route 11 freeway in northeast Ohio.  While it is directly on the freeway, northbound traffic must cross the southbound lanes at-grade to access the rest area. Also, there are no acceleration lanes when getting back onto the freeway in either direction.  The freeway isn't very busy, but it's still dangerous.

MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/NBNMotmtj5Za6EPU8

I see the speed limit is 70 mph on there. Interesting design!
Ohio has some expressways with a 70 mph, like a portion of US 30.
I love US-30 in Ohio, I've used it to shunpike before.

We used US-30 a couple of years ago to go from Dayton to Canton (I-75 north to Beaverdam, then US-30 east to Canton). Hardly the most direct route, of course, but we'd already used the more direct Interstate route, so I wanted to go a different way. US-30 was a great road except for a work zone near Mansfield. Very relaxing drive, almost nobody on the road for most of the way.
I used it last summer going to Pittsburgh and it was a very enjoyable drive I really liked that drive. I could have used the Ohio Turnpike but as you can see in my post above I was shunpiking so it really came in handy and bypassed everything I wanted to skip. I may have hit some construction a little bit but it wasn't bad. I also used it before when I was county clinching in Ohio about two years ago that's when I discovered it as a good route to use. I like the 70 mph speed limit too.
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RG407

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #62 on: March 13, 2022, 09:49:27 PM »

I forget exactly where off the top my head but there is one off of I-75 near Sarasota that requires leaving the Interstate to access

....

You're not perchance thinking of the abandoned (or perhaps never finished, I don't know) one next to the Myakka River near Venice, are you?

It definitely was active, I thought that I had a photo of it but I don’t.  It was along the west side of I-75 on what I believe was a 7X State Road.
From what I can tell there were three such rest areas on I-75 in Southwest Florida.  In addition to the one near Venice, there was one near Punta Gorda on Jones Loop Rd. and one in Fort Myers at Daniels Parkway near Southwest Florida International Airport.  According to GSV, the Venice rest area has been closed since at least 2008.   The Punta Gorda one closed in 2014 or 2015.  The one in Fort Myers is still open.

When I-75 was built in in Southwest Florida in the late '70's not a whole lot of people lived along the corridor, so I'm sure FDOT built these rest areas as a cost-cutting move, and since these were rural areas access for drivers wouldn't be much of a problem.  That's certainly not the case today.  Although the one near Venice would still be easy as it sits at the end of a dead end road.

I stopped at one of these once about 20 years ago or so and it was kind of a pain to get off and back to the interstate.
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lepidopteran

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #63 on: March 14, 2022, 12:34:54 AM »

I note Florida's Turnpike puts the service areas in the median; they also don't set them up to prevent someone from making a U-turn.
Back when the FL pike used tickets, I remember there being a sign reading something like "For authorized U-turns, please have your ticket stamped."  The sign was posted just before a semi-circular road that connected the NB and SB parking areas.
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SD Mapman

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #64 on: March 14, 2022, 01:05:37 PM »

Another one near CO, I-25 Exit 4 in Wyoming.



There's also one in Wyoming on I-90 at exit 199, as well as one that I found looking for it at exit 189.
Don't go to the Exit 189 one expecting anything more than a rest area, the true welcome center is at Exit 199. With it being off the interstate, I was able to bike to it with my folks one time (20-30 mile roundtrip if I remember right).
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SeriesE

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #65 on: March 14, 2022, 08:06:53 PM »

C. H. WARLOW REST AREA for CA 99 is off a side road from the Drive 23 exit
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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #66 on: March 14, 2022, 08:10:54 PM »

Wisconsin has another Welcome Center on I-94 at Wis 165 / Hwy Q in Pleasant Prairie where you do have to exit the freeway to get to it. However, there is a direct ramp back onto I-94 heading towards Milwaukee.
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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #67 on: March 14, 2022, 08:25:48 PM »

Wisconsin has another Welcome Center on I-94 at Wis 165 / Hwy Q in Pleasant Prairie where you do have to exit the freeway to get to it. However, there is a direct ramp back onto I-94 heading towards Milwaukee.

You don't have to take the ramp directly to the welcome center to get there. You can follow the ramp to 104th Street and access the side entrance.

Another welcome center with multiple entrances is I-95 in Kittery. There's a regular ramp from the interstate and a side entrance to US-1. Here though there's no way to get to I-95 from the US-1 entrance.
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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #68 on: March 14, 2022, 08:41:21 PM »

Another welcome center with multiple entrances is I-95 in Kittery. There's a regular ramp from the interstate and a side entrance to US-1. Here though there's no way to get to I-95 from the US-1 entrance.

It looks possible to me, and Google says it's possible if you set a waypoint in the middle. Am I missing something?
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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #69 on: March 14, 2022, 08:50:56 PM »

This rest area on US-61/151 in Hazel Green, WI is accessed via the interchange for Hwy 11. The fact that it's relatively low traffic saves this from becoming a traffic nightmare, and allows it to serve double-duty for travelers headed to/from Hwy 11.

Oddly enough, this is the ONLY rest area on all of US-151 in Wisconsin, which is either 4-lane expressway or freeway (besides through Madison) for nearly 170 miles to the I-41 interchange.


https://goo.gl/maps/xq7GfTV6i7pNmcYM9
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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #70 on: March 14, 2022, 09:17:17 PM »

Another welcome center with multiple entrances is I-95 in Kittery. There's a regular ramp from the interstate and a side entrance to US-1. Here though there's no way to get to I-95 from the US-1 entrance.

It looks possible to me, and Google says it's possible if you set a waypoint in the middle. Am I missing something?

I was going by memory, and I thought there were separate parking lots. But, looking at the map, you're right.
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vdeane

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #71 on: March 14, 2022, 09:41:04 PM »

Another welcome center with multiple entrances is I-95 in Kittery. There's a regular ramp from the interstate and a side entrance to US-1. Here though there's no way to get to I-95 from the US-1 entrance.

It looks possible to me, and Google says it's possible if you set a waypoint in the middle. Am I missing something?

I was going by memory, and I thought there were separate parking lots. But, looking at the map, you're right.
Per street view, the connection between the lots is for handicapped and authorized vehicles only.
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CardInLex

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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #72 on: March 15, 2022, 11:49:35 AM »

The Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea on I-75 requires exiting I-75 and then making a few turns. It is signed as a “Travelers’ Center”  on the interstate and the KY routes leading to it.

https://goo.gl/maps/UyRBXSALmEeyMa538

Not sure of direct ownership on it. @HB may know for sure its ownership structure.
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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #73 on: March 15, 2022, 12:14:04 PM »

Another welcome center with multiple entrances is I-95 in Kittery. There's a regular ramp from the interstate and a side entrance to US-1. Here though there's no way to get to I-95 from the US-1 entrance.

It looks possible to me, and Google says it's possible if you set a waypoint in the middle. Am I missing something?

I was going by memory, and I thought there were separate parking lots. But, looking at the map, you're right.
Per street view, the connection between the lots is for handicapped and authorized vehicles only.

Weirdly, no such restriction exists going from the I-95 to the US-1 direction.
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Re: Rest areas/welcome centers without direct ramps on/off freeway
« Reply #74 on: March 15, 2022, 03:20:16 PM »

The Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea on I-75 requires exiting I-75 and then making a few turns. It is signed as a “Travelers’ Center”  on the interstate and the KY routes leading to it.

https://goo.gl/maps/UyRBXSALmEeyMa538

Not sure of direct ownership on it. @HB may know for sure its ownership structure.

I'm pretty sure Tourism runs it. It's worth noting that when I-75 was widened between Richmond and Berea, and that facility was built, two rest areas (one in each direction) were closed and demolished. The Artisan Center is not open 24-7 for restrooms. So it's not really a functional rest area in the traditional sense.
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