Abandoned Rest Areas

[signalman]

I'm surprised more states don't use the single median rest areas to save money.

Left exits are why they don't. Unsafe to have slow traffic entering on the left and it goes against driver expectation. There's a bit of art and psychology involved in road design.

Fair enough answer.  But why not use right exits and entrances from/to both directions and a connector road on either side of the rest area?  One rest area can be utilized for both directions and left exits and entrances don't need to be used.

[cl94]

I'm surprised more states don't use the single median rest areas to save money.

Left exits are why they don't. Unsafe to have slow traffic entering on the left and it goes against driver expectation. There's a bit of art and psychology involved in road design.

Fair enough answer.  But why not use right exits and entrances from/to both directions and a connector road on either side of the rest area?  One rest area can be utilized for both directions and left exits and entrances don't need to be used.

Ground conditions may make the costs of two bridges exceed the cost of building two smaller rest areas. A bridge is a heck of a lot more expensive to build and maintain than a small building.

[GCrites]

I live in Ohio where left exits are still A-OK.

[kkt]

I'm surprised more states don't use the single median rest areas to save money.

Left exits are why they don't. Unsafe to have slow traffic entering on the left and it goes against driver expectation. There's a bit of art and psychology involved in road design.

Fair enough answer.  But why not use right exits and entrances from/to both directions and a connector road on either side of the rest area?  One rest area can be utilized for both directions and left exits and entrances don't need to be used.

There are a few.  But a parking lot and bathrooms are pretty cheap to construct, less than an overpass.  Where I've seen a connector road it's usually because land is very restricted on one side of the road.

[signalman]

Ground conditions may make the costs of two bridges exceed the cost of building two smaller rest areas. A bridge is a heck of a lot more expensive to build and maintain than a small building.

Good point.  I didn't consider the two bridges and their maintenance when I gave a quick witted solution. 

[US71]

I'm surprised more states don't use the single median rest areas to save money.

MoDOT has one on I-44.

[roadman65]

I'm surprised more states don't use the single median rest areas to save money.

Left exits are why they don't. Unsafe to have slow traffic entering on the left and it goes against driver expectation. There's a bit of art and psychology involved in road design.

That one is funny as in Delaware where I-95 has its one and only rest area in the whole entire state, there was a sign there warning all motorists in the left lanes to where the left side merges in, to keep right.

It emphasizes that it is a "High Speed Merge" and for traffic to "Keep Right."

I actually thought that was an error and should warn the ramp traffic to Keep Left.

[GaryV]

I'm surprised more states don't use the single median rest areas to save money.

Left exits are why they don't. Unsafe to have slow traffic entering on the left and it goes against driver expectation. There's a bit of art and psychology involved in road design.

Beside left exit/entrance, it requires a lot of land as the opposite carriageways need to gradually widen out.  A rest area on the right side only needs the amount of land that the area itself occupies, not an additional quarter mile at each end of it.

[cl94]

I'm surprised more states don't use the single median rest areas to save money.

Left exits are why they don't. Unsafe to have slow traffic entering on the left and it goes against driver expectation. There's a bit of art and psychology involved in road design.

Beside left exit/entrance, it requires a lot of land as the opposite carriageways need to gradually widen out.  A rest area on the right side only needs the amount of land that the area itself occupies, not an additional quarter mile at each end of it.

1/4 mile is pushing it if you want to provide an exit ramp that allows for deceleration from the left lane design speed and adequate geometry within the rest area

[busman_49]

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

Nope.  It's further south, below Milford Parkway.

For those still following along at home, here's the area in question:
http://goo.gl/maps/eGJEK
(...and as an added bonus, pan further north & there's a ghost ramp at the 275/Milford Pkwy interchange!)

[HistoricTeacher]

I came across another abandoned rest stop... And this one is quite unusual. If you are in Fon Du Lac, Wisconsin and go north on US 41 for about 3 miles, you will come across a closed rest area thats been closed since the 90's. but there's something a little more nerving.. When you reach this rest area going south, you will find a sign that says, "next rest area 21 miles", but wait.. Hasn't that rest stop been gone for 20 years? It would be weird when a person is driving down the highway to get a random, out-of-the-blue, "next rest stop 21 miles sign". These things don't just happen. Someone forgot to take down the sign.

[Big John]

^^ Those were waysides rather than rest areas.  Main difference is they had pit toilets rather than indoor plumbing.

[ftballfan]

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.

Two rest areas were taken out for M-6: US-131 NB at MM 77 and I-96 WB at MM 45. Also, one on I-96 WB at MM 140 was taken out for a new interchange. There's a long-abandoned one on US-23 NB at MM 32 and another long-abandoned one on I-196 SB at MM 16. Speaking of new ones, I think the Chelsea rest area on I-94 EB might be newer than DeWitt and Woodbury.

[Bitmapped]

There is abandoned rest area along US 219 near Keysers Ridge, MD. The large parking lot with a scenic view remains.  There is a modern building there with flush restrooms but it's been fenced off since about 2009. Google Maps Street View: http://goo.gl/maps/Oi8jq

There are also the remains of an old rest area along Scenic US 40 atop Sideling Hill west of Hancock, MD.  The facilities are still there but they're blocked off and No Trespassing signs are poste.d GMSV: http://goo.gl/maps/N96FM

[SignGeek101]

No one has mentioned this one:

https://goo.gl/maps/Hi4mf

This one closed in September 2006.

From behind the old rest area:

https://goo.gl/maps/Mk6H5

[GCrites]

There are also the remains of an old rest area along Scenic US 40 atop Sideling Hill west of Hancock, MD.  The facilities are still there but they're blocked off and No Trespassing signs are poste.d GMSV: http://goo.gl/maps/N96FM

Oh man that's a good one. I think that one is well-documented in book form from a National Road book I checked out from the library.

[GCrites]

No one has mentioned this one:

https://goo.gl/maps/Hi4mf

This one closed in September 2006.

Rotate the view on this one to see the meanest semi you've seen in a while behind the Google car.

[KEK Inc.]

Not sure if this was a rest stop or a weigh station, but here's something in Vancouver, WA.  I-5 NB off the Fourth Plain off-ramp. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.634885,-122.662412,3a,70.5y,20.33h,90.22t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1scDUg3LpF12pmbbp4wHBYRA!2e0

[tcorlandoinsavannah]

I haven't driven this stretch of I-4 in a while, but it looks like this former "No Facilities" rest stop has been converted into a staging area for construction equipment:
I-4
Can anyone confirm that?

[tcorlandoinsavannah]

I think this was probably a weigh station, rather than a rest area; but I can find no information about it:
US17
As this GSV shows, the fuzz like to use it for a pull-over spot nowadays.

[tcorlandoinsavannah]

Rotate the view on this one to see the meanest semi you've seen in a while behind the Google car.

Good one!
I clicked ahead up the road, and the truck changes lanes.  Check out the pissed-off look from the trucker as he passes: AngryTrucker

[GCrites]

Awesome. A bad dude in a bad truck.

[RG407]

I haven't driven this stretch of I-4 in a while, but it looks like this former "No Facilities" rest stop has been converted into a staging area for construction equipment:
I-4
Can anyone confirm that?

I drove by there last October and can confirm it is a construction staging area.  I always thought it was an odd place for a rest area, especially since there wasn't one on the westbound side.

[RG407]

I am surprised  that the Longwood rest areas are still open ( just east(north) of exit 94. They are right in the middle of suburbia. Services at exits 92,94&98. There is always tons if trucks there when I go to work in the morning, that's probably why. But rest areas are known as cruising spots for men, all the more reason people want them closed.

The Longwood rest areas aren't going anywhere.  In fact, they are going to be expanded as part of the I-4 Ultimate project.  FDOT will also build a brand-new traffic management center at the eastbound rest area.  Residents living behind the rest area are not at all happy.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/traffic/I-4-makeover/os-i4-makeover-rest-stop-construction-20150410-story.html

[jwolfer]

I'm surprised more states don't use the single median rest areas to save money.

Left exits are why they don't. Unsafe to have slow traffic entering on the left and it goes against driver expectation. There's a bit of art and psychology involved in road design.

Don't know if it's  still open but on i85 in North Carolina there was a rest area near Greensboro where the carriageways switch sides so the rest are is in the middle with right exits.