Abandoned Rest Areas

[sirrobyn0]

Ok so here is a couple of good ones.  My favorite abandoned rest stops, or really I'd call these waysides.  I have a personal attachment to them because I remember stopping at them when I was a kid with my parents and later on with my wife while headed out to the coast to vacation.  So these are both off of SR 8 in Washington between highway I-5 and the coast.  Back in 1926 the first highway was built on this basic route and it was SR410.  In 1964 the highway system was renumber in Washington and that highway became SR8, sometime in the 60's some route straightening was performed.  That left short loops of old SR410 that they then used for wayside type rest areas. 

First one can be seen here:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/kCcf3hVrd5KkiSPc9  As you can see one end no longer connects to SR8, but it use to.  Though this is the better loop of the two, the state had less space to work with and it would have been impossible for trucks to use.  This rest area closed I think in the mid-70's, because I do not remember it. 

When they closed the first wayside they moved it 3.3 miles west to another portion of old SR410, you can see that here.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/45ocFvbAj86jo8oe7  This rest area could accommodate RVs a trucks a little better, but it still wasn't great.  Facilities were picnic tables and pit toilets.  In this image you can see where the onramp connected back to SR8, they have pretty much obliterated the off ramp.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/R3ASCB6B45uX6RSf9 

There was a large purpose built rest area for the east bound folks and in the early 90's they built an overpass a mile from that rest area which enabled west bound folks to turn back and be able to use the west bound rest area making it multi-directional.  You can see that still operating rest area here if you like: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wbnTYCDiAw9ZBasEA  And that ended the smaller wet bound waysides.

[sirrobyn0]

SR2 in Washington, this is an odd duck....  https://maps.app.goo.gl/hmHNXzb8eWxP3xT79  There was a wayside there up until the early 80's.  It's right on the banks of the Wallace river and there was some land washed away in the early 80's and the state closed it.  But in the late 90's they reopened it!  In this image from 2008 https://maps.app.goo.gl/Fh7VoKDSymPEtoQ9A  you can see the wayside still in operation.  Portapotties on the left, picnic shelter straight ahead by the RV, there were other picnic tables closer to the rivers as well.  Sometime around 2009 - 2010 the wayside closed suddenly and all buildings removed.  See this 2013 image, https://maps.app.goo.gl/bB97v7HsMDi5jGJ97  though the wayside is closed and jersey barriers prevent driving into it you can see folks were still using it to access the river.  See this 2023 image, https://maps.app.goo.gl/pv7jJQPhTZTQike36 looks like you probably can't walk though the brush to get to the river anymore.  Such a shame the loss of that wayside, making the only other rest area on the west side of the mountains the seasonally open Deception falls 30 miles to the east. 

[sirrobyn0]

Ok I've got a couple more I'd like to share in Washington and then I'll hit a couple I know about in Oregon. 

So I don't remember this rest stop, or wayside, but I've had a few people give me vague information about it and maybe just maybe someone here will have some additional information or maybe be able to look on an old Washington state highway map. 

So this was on highway 202 between Redmond and Fall City, Wa.  The most likely locations would be at either end of the measurement on the map.   https://maps.app.goo.gl/1Typ1n8S7MrK8aNH6  I've been told that there may have been a small camping loop at this rest stop.  But I'm not banking to much stock into that, but it's possible.  It would have been closed in the 70's some time I think.  I know little else.  Maybe someone can help me out with this.

Thanks.

[ErmineNotyours]

Thank you for reviving some of my posts.  WSDOT released a plan for maintaining and upgrading their rest areas, which has been mentioned in the news.  I found this large PDF giving all the information: https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/statewide-plans/safety-rest-area-strategic-plan  Looking through it, I found that the first rest area on I-90 west of Idaho is no longer an official WSDOT rest area.  The last time I used it was when I entered from the Centennial Trail, which is a courtesy I wish could be granted from the trail along side the now-surely-permanently-abandoned rest area south of Everett.  The Spokane rest area is still accessible by turning off the interchange and driving around, but now its more geared towards being a local park.  The old entrance area is now a watercraft inspection station.  https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6966432,-117.0521954,17z?entry=ttu

[sirrobyn0]

Thank you for reviving some of my posts.  WSDOT released a plan for maintaining and upgrading their rest areas, which has been mentioned in the news.  I found this large PDF giving all the information: https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/statewide-plans/safety-rest-area-strategic-plan  Looking through it, I found that the first rest area on I-90 west of Idaho is no longer an official WSDOT rest area.  The last time I used it was when I entered from the Centennial Trail, which is a courtesy I wish could be granted from the trail along side the now-surely-permanently-abandoned rest area south of Everett.  The Spokane rest area is still accessible by turning off the interchange and driving around, but now its more geared towards being a local park.  The old entrance area is now a watercraft inspection station.  https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6966432,-117.0521954,17z?entry=ttu

It's a topic I much enjoy especially in areas I've been and I've been all of the state!
Yea the one south of Everett was Silverlake rest area.  It's to bad when a rest area in our area has a problem (like homeless or crime) the states solution is to close it.  As of earlier in the year the buildings are still there so I guess there is some hope.  Frankly I'm surprised the Tacoma rest area hasn't been closed.   

I noticed the article you linked says "Introduces the concept of piloting alternative site formats...."  I really hope that doesn't imply privatized rest areas. 

I remember the Liberty Lake / Spokane rest area.  It's to bad it's no longer an official rest area, but at least it lives on as a park and those of us that know about it can still make use of it. 

I've got another couple Wa. abandoned rest areas I want to post about in the next couple days when I get the chance, so there will be more coming from me on this thread. 

[GCrites]

Ok I've got a couple more I'd like to share in Washington and then I'll hit a couple I know about in Oregon. 

So I don't remember this rest stop, or wayside, but I've had a few people give me vague information about it and maybe just maybe someone here will have some additional information or maybe be able to look on an old Washington state highway map. 

So this was on highway 202 between Redmond and Fall City, Wa.  The most likely locations would be at either end of the measurement on the map.   https://maps.app.goo.gl/1Typ1n8S7MrK8aNH6  I've been told that there may have been a small camping loop at this rest stop.  But I'm not banking to much stock into that, but it's possible.  It would have been closed in the 70's some time I think.  I know little else.  Maybe someone can help me out with this.

Thanks.

Turning them into local parks is another creative but more common re-use as seen on OH-28 just outside Leesburg Ohio: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3530666,-83.5475382,3a,75y,352.27h,78.19t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMIYKs_Fa3-y3ktRWrpeQoQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DMIYKs_Fa3-y3ktRWrpeQoQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D317.2418%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

Then we also have the dam access variant. Does this dam access also have a park with permanent restrooms? Is it on a state (or higher) highway? You know, we could just call it a rest area. This happened on US-52 next to the Greenup Dam (the bathrooms closed about 20 years ago so now it is not a rest area) on the Ohio side:https://www.google.com/maps/place/Greenup+Locks+%26+Dam/@38.6476807,-82.8554545,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x884662554b87c3f3:0x1809bea4827064dd!8m2!3d38.6470439!4d-82.858598!16s%2Fg%2F11clsg7f9g?entry=ttu

In the case of the Hannibal Locks and Dam the bathrooms are ostensibly still open and it has a park but DOTs might have been more reluctant to call them Rest Areas to cut down on dam visits after 9/11. I do recall this being called a rest area. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hannibal+Locks+and+Dam,+New+Martinsville,+WV+26155/@39.6658003,-80.8685429,384m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x8836010602a41aa1:0xf57b34b7e57b728c!8m2!3d39.6671034!4d-80.8654291!16s%2Fm%2F0cmdy9q?entry=ttu

[CtrlAltDel]

I think I might have related this before, but when I was young, my family and I drove about once a year from Chicago to Florida to visit my grandparents. We usually took I-65 to I-24 to I-75. While we were traveling, we regularly stopped at a number of rest areas for breaks, which would increasingly annoy my parents. Anyway, one time, when we stopped, I recall reading a plaque that had been posted stating that we were at the Elizabethtown rest area along with some history of the region. This bothered me because one of my sisters' names is Elizabeth, and I was a bit put out that she had a rest area named after her and I didn't.

A few years back, this moment came back to mind, and I tried to find it on Google Maps, but was not successful. Eventually, I found that the rest area had been closed and razed, and I felt sad that it was gone.

For the record, the rest area was here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/37%C2%B032'43.8%22N+85%C2%B052'51.3%22W/@37.5456115,-85.8824393,501m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d37.545498!4d-85.880919?entry=ttu

[sirrobyn0]

I think I might have related this before, but when I was young, my family and I drove about once a year from Chicago to Florida to visit my grandparents. We usually took I-65 to I-24 to I-75. While we were traveling, we regularly stopped at a number of rest areas for breaks, which would increasingly annoy my parents. Anyway, one time, when we stopped, I recall reading a plaque that had been posted stating that we were at the Elizabethtown rest area along with some history of the region. This bothered me because one of my sisters' names is Elizabeth, and I was a bit put out that she had a rest area named after her and I didn't.

A few years back, this moment came back to mind, and I tried to find it on Google Maps, but was not successful. Eventually, I found that the rest area had been closed and razed, and I felt sad that it was gone.

For the record, the rest area was here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/37%C2%B032'43.8%22N+85%C2%B052'51.3%22W/@37.5456115,-85.8824393,501m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d37.545498!4d-85.880919?entry=ttu

You should check it out on historical aerials.  It's there in 2006, and looks still open, but the building is torn down and pavement gone but 2008. 

[amroad17]

I think I might have related this before, but when I was young, my family and I drove about once a year from Chicago to Florida to visit my grandparents. We usually took I-65 to I-24 to I-75. While we were traveling, we regularly stopped at a number of rest areas for breaks, which would increasingly annoy my parents. Anyway, one time, when we stopped, I recall reading a plaque that had been posted stating that we were at the Elizabethtown rest area along with some history of the region. This bothered me because one of my sisters' names is Elizabeth, and I was a bit put out that she had a rest area named after her and I didn't.

A few years back, this moment came back to mind, and I tried to find it on Google Maps, but was not successful. Eventually, I found that the rest area had been closed and razed, and I felt sad that it was gone.

For the record, the rest area was here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/37%C2%B032'43.8%22N+85%C2%B052'51.3%22W/@37.5456115,-85.8824393,501m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d37.545498!4d-85.880919?entry=ttu

You should check it out on historical aerials.  It's there in 2006, and looks still open, but the building is torn down and pavement gone but 2008.

Since the two rest areas were built near Horse Cave on I-65 at mm 60, KYTC closed and razed that rest area and it's NB counterpart just north of the Sonora (81) interchange as well as two SB rest areas—one between Horse Cave and Cave City around mm 55 (which had one of the longest on-ramps I have ever seen at a rest area) https://maps.app.goo.gl/c9TE9yzR6QsV7rEw9, and the other around mm 30 north of Bowling Green that is now partially covered by Exit 30, which was completed a few years ago. https://maps.app.goo.gl/U8TdLNpa11Y4cV2d6.  A NB rest area north of the Smith's Grove interchange (38) was also closed and razed.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/uUZcCLN5AXttqrah8.

KYTC also closed the two rest areas on I-75 south of Richmond about 17-20 years ago around mm 83—just south of the Duncannon interchange where the Buc-ee's is now.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/yrNBix8VyutjFgwu6

[freebrickproductions]

Funnily enough, there's another Buc-ee's goin' in at Smiths Grove on I-65 as well.

[amroad17]

Funnily enough, there's another Buc-ee's goin' in at Smiths Grove on I-65 as well.

Yes, I had forgotten about that!  I see work has begun: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ocsxgtLnH1C7Peew7

[sirrobyn0]

I'd like to do a pair of rest stops off I-5 in Oregon.  These would be the South Umpqua north rest area, and the south Umpqua south bound rest areas.  Lets start with the Northbound rest area. 

You can very the pavement which is all that's left here:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/q4NppasWCJwECp2B9  As you can see this rest area was actually accessible from both directions, and when the south bound rest area closed indefinitely due to septic issues it was used that way. 

This is the best view of the rest area I can find from when it was operational.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/Zssi4hG6TWZ6y6iV6
This use to be a must stop at rest area for us, because it was huge, and it was great to walk the dog.  And right behind where the picture is taken from is the South Umpqua river, so there was a view of the river  This rest area closed around 2010 when the Jordan creek rest stop opened.  ODOT removed the buildings, built a storage shed on the site and they use it for material storage.  To bad this was a really great rest area.

South bound.  In comparison there is nothing special about this rest area, it was just an average highway rest area though it did have a lot of open space. 

You can see what is left here:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/4XfaBM8qWT1kVBUc6
This rest area closed around 2008 due to septic issues that were never fixed.  When the Jordan creek rest stop opened this one was closed for good.  The buildings were removed and the front part of the rest area was converted into a weigh station around 2010 - 11 or so.  While there are no facilities left here anymore the paved parking is still used for truck parking and inspection. 

What it looks like today. https://maps.app.goo.gl/EHSiYu6PhkGZcJQD8

[freebrickproductions]

Funnily enough, there's another Buc-ee's goin' in at Smiths Grove on I-65 as well.

Yes, I had forgotten about that!  I see work has begun: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ocsxgtLnH1C7Peew7

Don't have any pictures, but the buildings and the covers for the pumps were already in place when I was driving through earlier this month, though no doubt more work (especially inside) was still going on.

[CtrlAltDel]

I think I might have related this before, but when I was young, my family and I drove about once a year from Chicago to Florida to visit my grandparents. We usually took I-65 to I-24 to I-75. While we were traveling, we regularly stopped at a number of rest areas for breaks, which would increasingly annoy my parents. Anyway, one time, when we stopped, I recall reading a plaque that had been posted stating that we were at the Elizabethtown rest area along with some history of the region. This bothered me because one of my sisters' names is Elizabeth, and I was a bit put out that she had a rest area named after her and I didn't.

A few years back, this moment came back to mind, and I tried to find it on Google Maps, but was not successful. Eventually, I found that the rest area had been closed and razed, and I felt sad that it was gone.

For the record, the rest area was here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/37%C2%B032'43.8%22N+85%C2%B052'51.3%22W/@37.5456115,-85.8824393,501m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d37.545498!4d-85.880919?entry=ttu

You should check it out on historical aerials.  It's there in 2006, and looks still open, but the building is torn down and pavement gone but 2008.

Since the two rest areas were built near Horse Cave on I-65 at mm 60, KYTC closed and razed that rest area and it's NB counterpart just north of the Sonora (81) interchange as well as two SB rest areas—one between Horse Cave and Cave City around mm 55 (which had one of the longest on-ramps I have ever seen at a rest area) https://maps.app.goo.gl/c9TE9yzR6QsV7rEw9, and the other around mm 30 north of Bowling Green that is now partially covered by Exit 30, which was completed a few years ago. https://maps.app.goo.gl/U8TdLNpa11Y4cV2d6.  A NB rest area north of the Smith's Grove interchange (38) was also closed and razed.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/uUZcCLN5AXttqrah8.

KYTC also closed the two rest areas on I-75 south of Richmond about 17-20 years ago around mm 83—just south of the Duncannon interchange where the Buc-ee's is now.  https://maps.app.goo.gl/yrNBix8VyutjFgwu6

Thanks for the information here. I had no idea about any of this.

[wriddle082]

In South Carolina: The rest areas at around Mile 89 (15 miles from Spartanburg) were closed sometime in 2011. The SB rest area was turned into a Blythe Construction field office. GSV has partial footage from the NB rest area.

https://goo.gl/maps/kjeszVqAryRjPqbp7

There are three other closed rest areas in SC that I'm aware of.  One is the I-95 pair at around mm 171 just north of the SC 327 exit (the Buc-ee's exit).  The other is I-26 westbound only at around mm 202 (its EB counterpart at around mm 204 remains open).

There are also several pull-offs which I assume used to be truck parking areas in SC, mostly along I-26, that have mostly been closed over the years.  One set is at I-26 mm 9.  Another is around mm 87 or 88 westbound between Little Mountain and Chapin, but it is in the process of being obliterated by the in-progress six-lane widening/reconstruction.

[sirrobyn0]

Two more from Oregon, Cow Creek north & south bound.  Near Glendale Oregon these were also closed down when the Jordan creek rest stop opened.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ufgU3uVrh78GG7tk9

Northbound 2008 https://maps.app.goo.gl/jKtaitqqmMdPkw4aA
Southbound looked similar but isn't pictured on google. 

While the Jordan creek rest stop is a very nice, new and well kept rest stop, it does mean a greater distance between them.

[sirrobyn0]

This https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cehsk9Ziep96CUhV7  Use to be the first Oregon rest area on I-5 coming up north out of California.  At this point it seems like it has been totally forgotten about, but it was there and now it's generally used for material storage as you can see in the google link.  It was the Neil creek rest area / Oregon welcome center.  It was closed in the mid-90's.  It's on the downgrade from the Syskiyou summit and the reason given at the time was that there had been a large increase in accidents the decade prior to it's closure. 

There were plans for a new welcome center at the base of the grade, but that didn't come to fruition until 2019.  Obviously not abandoned but if your interested it's here:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/GVcj5fX26zm45U9s8 And probably the nicest rest area in the state. 

[rmooty77]

Here is one on Southbound 35 in Oklahoma. https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7745676,-97.1337218,1127m/data=!3m1!1e3?authuser=0&entry=ttu . There is a rest area/Oklahoma welcome center for Northbound traffic but the Southbound rest area has been closed for a while.  I have traveled to Oklahoma City from the DFW, TX area to visit family for a long time (30+ years) and remember when this was open but not sure exactly when it closed.  It probably closed when the WinStar Casino opened 2003ish maybe...?  It actually doesn't make a lot of sense for Southbound traffic when there is a Texas welcome center and rest stop just a few miles south of there.  I am pretty sure there is another closed rest area on 35 in Oklahoma between the Texas/Oklahoma border and Oklahoma City but I will have to hunt it down...

[GCrites]

I wouldn't be very excited about a rest area with a TKILTBAG that close by either.

[CtrlAltDel]

Ok I've got a couple more I'd like to share in Washington and then I'll hit a couple I know about in Oregon. 

So I don't remember this rest stop, or wayside, but I've had a few people give me vague information about it and maybe just maybe someone here will have some additional information or maybe be able to look on an old Washington state highway map. 

So this was on highway 202 between Redmond and Fall City, Wa.  The most likely locations would be at either end of the measurement on the map.   https://maps.app.goo.gl/1Typ1n8S7MrK8aNH6  I've been told that there may have been a small camping loop at this rest stop.  But I'm not banking to much stock into that, but it's possible.  It would have been closed in the 70's some time I think.  I know little else.  Maybe someone can help me out with this.

Thanks.

Turning them into local parks is another creative but more common re-use as seen on OH-28 just outside Leesburg Ohio: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3530666,-83.5475382,3a,75y,352.27h,78.19t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMIYKs_Fa3-y3ktRWrpeQoQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DMIYKs_Fa3-y3ktRWrpeQoQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D317.2418%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

Then we also have the dam access variant. Does this dam access also have a park with permanent restrooms? Is it on a state (or higher) highway? You know, we could just call it a rest area. This happened on US-52 next to the Greenup Dam (the bathrooms closed about 20 years ago so now it is not a rest area) on the Ohio side:https://www.google.com/maps/place/Greenup+Locks+%26+Dam/@38.6476807,-82.8554545,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x884662554b87c3f3:0x1809bea4827064dd!8m2!3d38.6470439!4d-82.858598!16s%2Fg%2F11clsg7f9g?entry=ttu

In the case of the Hannibal Locks and Dam the bathrooms are ostensibly still open and it has a park but DOTs might have been more reluctant to call them Rest Areas to cut down on dam visits after 9/11. I do recall this being called a rest area. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hannibal+Locks+and+Dam,+New+Martinsville,+WV+26155/@39.6658003,-80.8685429,384m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x8836010602a41aa1:0xf57b34b7e57b728c!8m2!3d39.6671034!4d-80.8654291!16s%2Fm%2F0cmdy9q?entry=ttu

It's not closed, but here's a campground that's only accessible through a rest area:

[GCrites]

We've got one set to close on the 11th on U.S. 23 north of South Bloomfield OH:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/South+Bloomfield,+OH+43103/@39.7365629,-82.985553,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x88477c27081651f5:0x6dac9323cac47643!8m2!3d39.7183962!4d-82.9868489!16zL20vMHowdDk?entry=ttu

Years ago there was talk of a rebuild but that probably got cancelled due to all the commercial development just south of the rest area with the deathblow being a Sheetz truck stop that opened last year. I don't know if the truck parking will be preserved (since demand for that is really high) or if it's going to get a full bulldoze. Being left in a zombie state like some of the ones seen in this thread seems unlikely.

[GCrites]

We've got one set to close on the 11th on U.S. 23 north of South Bloomfield OH:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/South+Bloomfield,+OH+43103/@39.7365629,-82.985553,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x88477c27081651f5:0x6dac9323cac47643!8m2!3d39.7183962!4d-82.9868489!16zL20vMHowdDk?entry=ttu

Years ago there was talk of a rebuild but that probably got cancelled due to all the commercial development just south of the rest area with the deathblow being a Sheetz truck stop that opened last year. I don't know if the truck parking will be preserved (since demand for that is really high) or if it's going to get a full bulldoze. Being left in a zombie state like some of the ones seen in this thread seems unlikely.

False Alarm -- this one is getting renovated with an all-new building: https://www.sciotopost.com/pickawya-county-us-23-rest-area-will-be-closed-for-renovations-for-a-year/

[tmoore952]

I would bet money this has been mentioned already but I'm not going to look through 12 pages of posts right now.

Along the abandoned stretch of Pennsylvania Turnpike -- east of Sideling Hill Tunnel --- around Hustontown -- on the north side of the abandoned highway there is the site of the abandoned Cove Fort rest area. There's nothing there now except a cleared area. There is also IIRC a local road which approaches the back of this area (meaning to the north of the old turnpike) which must have been used for supply deliveries way back when.

What amazes me when I saw this area is how small it seemed to be, even by very old PA Turnpike standards.

[Buck87]

We've got one set to close on the 11th on U.S. 23 north of South Bloomfield OH:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/South+Bloomfield,+OH+43103/@39.7365629,-82.985553,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x88477c27081651f5:0x6dac9323cac47643!8m2!3d39.7183962!4d-82.9868489!16zL20vMHowdDk?entry=ttu

Years ago there was talk of a rebuild but that probably got cancelled due to all the commercial development just south of the rest area with the deathblow being a Sheetz truck stop that opened last year. I don't know if the truck parking will be preserved (since demand for that is really high) or if it's going to get a full bulldoze. Being left in a zombie state like some of the ones seen in this thread seems unlikely.

False Alarm -- this one is getting renovated with an all-new building: https://www.sciotopost.com/pickawya-county-us-23-rest-area-will-be-closed-for-renovations-for-a-year/

Good to hear, drove by there yesterday and though for sure it was gone for good when I saw it closed off. 

[bwana39]

The ones in Franklin County just east of FM3050 are being repurposed as truck parking. https://maps.app.goo.gl/ohVcf2RGTtusCkU76 Construction is ongoing.

There is something going on at the ones in Bowie County, just west of FM 990. It may be the same thing.  Supposedly, the Bowie County one was closed because of the cost of security as opposed to the upkeep issues. https://maps.app.goo.gl/KyennrYsTeWi8arB8
These are on opposite sides of FM 4204 which does not have connection to I-30 or to the Rest Areas.

Both sets had been  closed 4 or 5 years ago. The ones in Franklin COunty were removed down to the dirt.  The ones in Bowie COunty only had the restroom facilities torn down and the entrances barricaded.