Freeway rest areas in Michigan

[brianreynolds]

I would like to share an observation that is not very relevant in modern times, but may have some historical significance.  I first noticed a pattern back in the early 1970s when my job was inter-city truck driver. 

When MDSH was designing the interstate highway system (and the non-interstate freeways too) there must have been criteria for placement of rest areas.  Maybe the top criterion (in the southern half of the lower peninsula anyway) was that a rest area was needed at the outer edge of a major or mid-sized city.

Note where the ORIGINAL rest areas were placed along I-94, I-96, I-69, I-75, US-131.  Nearly all are at the edge of a metropolitan area or approaching a significant town.

If this was a high criterion, the question is WHY?  I have a couple of theories. 

These towns and cities could be presumed to be the destination for many travelers.  For those unfamiliar with the area, the rest area could be a place to stop, freshen up a bit, get oriented on a map to the final leg of the trip.

And maybe make a phone call at the coin-operated pay phone.  Here is my main premise.  I think the sites were chosen to be within a local telephone call of the presumed destination. 

Some of our younger readers may not be familiar with the troubles associated with making a toll-call from a pay phone.  It was cumbersome enough that local calling could be a valid criterion.

[theline]

Your theory may or may not be right, but I can confirm the difficulty in making long distance calls from a pay phone. It generally required carrying around a pocket-full of quarters, unless you were comfortable making a "collect" call that would charge the call to the recipient's phone bill. Of course, one ruse many people employed was to make the collect call and then have the recipient refuse the call. The message still got through that "I'm on my way." Some even had elaborate codes that carried more detailed messages, depending on what caller's "name" you gave the operator.

"Calling cards" came along in the '70s. They allowed you to charge calls to your home phone by entering a code. That was a real help.

[brianreynolds]

Of course, one ruse many people employed was to make the collect call and then have the recipient refuse the call. The message still got through that "I'm on my way." Some even had elaborate codes that carried more detailed messages, depending on what caller's "name" you gave the operator.

"Calling cards" came along in the '70s. They allowed you to charge calls to your home phone by entering a code. That was a real help.

Thanks for the memories.  I hadn't had any reason to recall the coded collect calls for many decades.  And, yes, calling cards were an advancement in communications.  Sometimes I wonder if the same can be said of cell phones.

[brianreynolds]

I could have and should have given examples of abandoned rest areas that fit the description.  Here goes.

I-94 eastbound and westbound, and US-23 northbound approaching Ann Arbor.

I-94 eastbound and US-131 northbound approaching Kalamazoo.

I-96 westbound and US-131 northbound approaching Grand Rapids.

Northbound I-69 approaching Marshall.

There may be others that I'm not remembering.

[brianreynolds]

And I forgot the one on eastbound I-96 in Wixom or Novi.

[theline]

And, yes, calling cards were an advancement in communications.  Sometimes I wonder if the same can be said of cell phones.

A blessing and a curse. I used to be able to go home and not think about work until tomorrow. If it was an emergency, somebody would call the land line. Now, I'm never really away.

[brianreynolds]

And, yes, calling cards were an advancement in communications.  Sometimes I wonder if the same can be said of cell phones.

A blessing and a curse. I used to be able to go home and not think about work until tomorrow. If it was an emergency, somebody would call the land line. Now, I'm never really away.

I (and my field crew) spend so much time in the fringes of cell-phone viability that some days the frustration boils over.

[tvketchum]

The local call criteria was one, business men could call the accounts, give an estimate of when they would be there, and it would only require a dime each, with the time estimate more accurate. Plus, you could look at the city map usually found there, and plot your route through town without forgetting a lot of it.

[vtk]

Another reason that still holds up today: driver fatigue. Fighting fatigue on a rural highway is bad enough, but trying to thread through an urban freeway system under fatigue is insane. The chance to take a power nap before entering a city is a valuable asset to safety.