Abandoned Rest Areas

[RG407]

As I was perusing this thread I was thinking how Florida hardly ever closes a rest area, but instead have rebuilt and expanded the original 60's-era rest areas on I-75 and I-95.  This pair in Port Orange is the exception.

FDOT closed a pair on I-4 at mile 70 once sprawl had reached that far; retention ponds now sit there.

Of course!  How could I forget those?  It helped that there are rest areas about 30 miles to the west near Lakeland and 30 miles to the east near SR434 in Seminole County.

[D-Dey65]

FDOT closed a pair on I-4 at mile 70 once sprawl had reached that far; retention ponds now sit there.

They also closed one along US 41 just south of Spring Hill Drive in Garden Grove more than a dozen years ago, and I recently found out the one along US 98 near the Withlacoochee River at the Pasco-Hernando County Line was closed too.

[amroad17]

While driving to Gatlinburg, TN today and passing where the rest areas used to be around mm 82 on I-75 near Richmond, KY (which HB mentioned on page 1 of this thread), it reminded me of a couple of others that are abandoned or have disappeared. 

I-71 used to have two small rest areas around mm 179 north of Seville, OH.  Unless one knew about them, one would not know they were even there.  They both were on a small hillside.  They probably were abandoned because of the renovated rest areas near mm 198 further up the interstate.
Around mm 51 on I-71 between Carrollton, KY and Sparta, KY are abandoned rest areas on both sides.
There looks to be an abandoned rest area/scenic view around mm 147 on I-75 southbound in Tennessee.  You can see the mounds of dirt blocking the entrance and exit ramps as well as where the pavement is in the woods there.

If we included abandoned scale houses, in Kentucky there are two more that I know of.  One is on I-71 just east of Campbellsburg at mm 35 on both sides.  The ramps, pavement, and some lightpoles are still there.  The other is now completely gone.  It used to be at mm 43 on I-75 north of London.  This was replaced by the larger, modern scale house at mm 33 north of Corbin.  The only evidence left is just a clearing on both sides at mm 43.

 

[vtk]

(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

I don't buy the "nearby rest options" story.

Come to think of it, the reason probably has something to do with this rest area's proximity to the environmentally-sensitive Big Darby Creek.  There's no municipal water & sewer service at that location.  It's possible ODOT was unable to secure at reasonable cost a renewal of the necessary permits to operate its own water & septic system for the rest areas.  (It sounds plausible to me that renewal could have been contingent on upgrading those systems to better protect the Darby after its environmental sensitivity was recognized.)

I could probably do some actual research on this, but that's not how I'd like to allocate my free time today.

[hbelkins]

Around mm 51 on I-71 between Carrollton, KY and Sparta, KY are abandoned rest areas on both sides.

I don't know if those are abandoned rest areas as much as being places where ramps were built for rest areas that were never built.

Kentucky also took out a weigh station on westbound I-64 between Frankfort and Shelbyville, and one eastbound between Morehead and Olive Hill.

[amroad17]

That could be true.  They have been like this since I moved to Northern Kentucky in late 1994.

This could be the same situation with the two rest areas on I-64 near Corydon, IN.  The last time I was around there, they were simply parking areas.

[busman_49]

I-71 used to have two small rest areas around mm 179 north of Seville, OH.  Unless one knew about them, one would not know they were even there.  They both were on a small hillside.  They probably were abandoned because of the renovated rest areas near mm 198 further up the interstate.

I was thinking about these, but never got around to posting.  They are (were) actually between the Mansfield (US 30) and Ashland (US 250) exits.  I don't know if it was due to the renovated rest areas further up the highway, or because of the highway's widening that did these rest areas in.  Instead of adding the extra lane in the middle of the highway (as had been done on the rest of the stretch of road), they had to add the extra lane on the outside of the highway due to the terrain in that particular spot and that encroached on the rest areas' ramps.

[amroad17]

You are probably true in that assessment.  The rest areas were very close to I-71 and with the widening, there would have been no space between the end of the hill and the right lane of the freeway.

[thenetwork]

You are probably true in that assessment.  The rest areas were very close to I-71 and with the widening, there would have been no space between the end of the hill and the right lane of the freeway.

Considering most nights, semis used to jam that particular set of Rest Areas -- including up to 1/4 mile of shoulder before and after the rest area ramps (power in numbers, perhaps???) -- it was the right thing to do!

[getemngo]

MDOT just got rid of the rest area on southbound US 127 near Higgins Lake in December, because not enough people used it to justify remodeling. I'll try to get photos of whatever's left in April.

This topic got me wondering, when did the number of rest areas peak in each state? When did the last new rest area (that didn't replace an existing area) open in each state?

In Michigan, the last new rest area appears to be on M-28 just west of Seney, opened in 1999. US 2 has a rest area of the same vintage near Garden Corners. No freeway segment built in 2000 or later has any rest areas, but they're all relatively short.

[rawmustard]

MDOT just got rid of the rest area on southbound US 127 near Higgins Lake in December, because not enough people used it to justify remodeling. I'll try to get photos of whatever's left in April.

This topic got me wondering, when did the number of rest areas peak in each state? When did the last new rest area (that didn't replace an existing area) open in each state?

In Michigan, the last new rest area appears to be on M-28 just west of Seney, opened in 1999. US 2 has a rest area of the same vintage near Garden Corners. No freeway segment built in 2000 or later has any rest areas, but they're all relatively short.

I have to think DeWitt is newer, since I don't think it was constructed until some years after the segment of US 127 was opened to traffic. Woodbury might also have opened in the 2000s.

[Brian556]

In Denton County Texas, there are at least 3 picnic areas that I know of that have closed. One was on US 377 at FM 407. It was removed in the 80's. The one on I-35W just west of it closed In the last 8 years. TxDOT had been wanting to close it for years due to motorists littering it and defecating everywhere. They finally got to close it due to the fact an interchange with a new street is planned for it's former location, and because of trucks idling in an area that already has too much pollution.

The third was on US 77 near Mayhill Rd. It appears on old maps, but obviously is no longer there.

[NE2]

TxDOT had been wanting to close it for years due to motorists littering it and defecating everywhere.

Pooing is cool.

[Brian556]

Not when you're the one that has to clean it up.

[Pete from Boston]

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.

One lone picnic table is very visible near the road.

There is also something that looks like some kind of abandoned pulloff eastbound at about MP 105.6 in Lancaster:

http://maps.google.com/?q=42.518850,-71.653173&ftid=0x0:0x0&hl=en&gl=us

It's very short, but the guardrail bulges out around it, and it's evident enough for them to post "no trespassing" signs. 

Bing shows it much more clearly but for the life of me I can't make a bookmark from a Bing mobile map.

[thenetwork]

The lower-case "m"-shaped pullout in this photo here https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2277334,-108.8725664,325m/data=!3m1!1e3 looks to be the remnants of an old, long-gone rest area along old US-6/US-50 near the Colorado-Utah border in Mack, CO in the days before I-70 was completed.

For those traveling east out of Utah, this was a real welcomed sight for sore eyes. 

[Brandon]

In Denton County Texas, there are at least 3 picnic areas that I know of that have closed.

{snip}

The one on I-35W just west of it closed In the last 8 years. TxDOT had been wanting to close it for years due to motorists littering it and defecating everywhere. They finally got to close it due to the fact an interchange with a new street is planned for it's former location, and because of trucks idling in an area that already has too much pollution.

Wouldn't that tell TxDOT that real restroom facilities might just be a far better idea than just a flipping picnic table in the middle of nowhere?

[DevalDragon]

I think you need to go a few miles south, around MP 60...

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1431666,-84.2646511,564m

This one has always been curious to me, for being on a loop highway in a (semi) urban area.

I read about one in Cincinnati (I think on cincinnatitransit.net) that used to be on I-275 near the Ward's Corner Rd. exit.  I think I found where it used to be:
http://goo.gl/maps/8iOXR

[TrevorB]

The rest area on Interstate 55 northbound in Memphis was torn down in 2012 to reportedly make way for a new rest area. It has yet to be constructed and don't know if it ever will be. All that is left is a pyramid-looking piece of artwork out front.

Before: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.041276,-90.004174,3a,75y,33.28h,82.64t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s4sZ3Eon6m54xW5yij4m6Jw!2e0

After: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.041206,-90.004755,3a,50.1y,48.48h,89.7t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sC-W3gVw2pgccdJxpm-DWug!2e0

[amroad17]

That was one of the few rest areas in a suburban area.  Most rest areas are built in rural locations or just outside the suburban area.  The two in Florence, KY on I-75 used to be just outside the suburban area.  Now it is in the suburban area with the growth in Northern Kentucky.  You could also say the two on I-71 outside of Louisville are in a suburban area.

As far as the two that used to be on I-275 near Milford, OH, I remember seeing a sign between the Eastgate (OH 32) exit and the rest area mentioning that new modern rest areas were located 30 miles away on both I-71 and I-75 after they were abandoned.  These two rest areas had to be abandoned sometime between 1978 to 1990 as I remember seeing a Rand McNally map from 1978 showing the two rest areas in use.  Plus the sign that was put up looked to be an early 1980's sign.

[sbeaver44]

Resurrecting:

I seem to recall a primitive no services rest stop on US 15 northbound south of Dillsburg.  Historical Aerials and Google Maps are pointing me to believe it was between Cabin Hollow Road and Glenwood Road.  (I had thought it was closer to Scotch Pine Rd)  Street View shows the beginning of a pull off road, with several "No Parking" signs to boot.  40.08046 N/77.05044 W are the coordinates.

[WillWeaverRVA]

There's an abandoned and razed rest area on I-64 in Louisa County, Virginia, in both directions, just east of the VA 208 exit:

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.9105139,-78.0623003,878m/data=!3m1!1e3

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.9082522,-78.0599284,3a,75y,356.78h,87.93t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sw0c8b2jJJ9yZKOTDfXU1fw!2e0

I don't know when the rest area closed, but it's currently gated off and signed as being closed to public access. VDOT typically uses the space to store various equipment (construction, snow removal, etc.).

[Zzonkmiles]

South Carolina is full of decommissioned rest areas. The ones that have actual buildings with restrooms and vending machines survived for the most part. However, the ones that merely consist of an area for parking were closed down. The problem was that sometimes prostitution and other crimes would happen in these rest areas because they were often secluded. When you pull over into one of these rest areas, the rest area is separated from the interstate mainline by a hill or trees or something. So that made it easy to engage in illegal activities.

I don't know the specific mile markers offhand, but I know there's a closed down rest area on I-20 around MM 45 and on I-95 somewhere between Florence and the NC state line. There are also now a few rest areas without toilets that are only for "commercial vehicles." They even have signs that say "no cars allowed."

[WashuOtaku]

Speaking of South Carolina, one is located northbound I-85 just before Exit 90.  It was shut down a few years ago, google streetview has pictures in 2008.  Not sure the reason why it was closed beyond crappy on/off ramps; it had full facilities.

[GCrites]

I also remember another one on US 23 near the Ross/Pike line. It was distinctive in that the parking lot and restroom building were on either side of a creek, with a little bridge connecting them. As a little kid I always "had to pee" when we approached that one, because I liked walking across that bridge. I'm having trouble pin pointing it's exact location on google maps, but I know it closed in the mid 90's when a new modern rest area was built in Scioto County.

I think it was here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Piketon,+OH/@39.1774523,-82.9739218,251m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x8846e37fcecf804b:0x1cb5f0695cdbd6bb


Anybody know anything about the abandoned rest area on US-33 between Canal Winchester, OH and Lancaster? I can't find any trace of it. My folks used to point out to me where it was but that was too long ago.