Non-interstate/freeway rest areas?

[empirestate]

Not surprising that topics get recycled.

What is the etiquette for this, anyway? I would tend to think we should stick with existing topics, but then you get such a stern warning if you try to post in a thread that's too old.


iPhone

[hbelkins]

Someone just mentioned the OH 11 rest area that is the only at-grade intersection along a freeway between I-80 and I-90.

The OH 7 rest area near Gallipolis has a memorial to the victims of the Silver Bridge collapse and an exhibit that includes a piece similar to what failed, causing the bridge to collapse.

[roadman65]

US 231 in Alabama has one between Troy and Montgomery.

Plus at the AL-FL border there are welcome centers that have rest stop features.

Then the one that closed in Punta Gorda, FL for I-75 was not on the freeway itself, but on the local road.

[myosh_tino]

In California there are rest areas on all the major north-south routes (US-101, I-5, CA-99, US-395, I-15) in addition to the east-west Interstates (8, 10, 40, 80). There are handful of others, mainly on routes in the Sierra Nevada.

The appearance/amenities are the same at all the rest areas I've been at regardless of what type of highway they're on.

There is a pair of rest areas on CA-58 just west of Boron in the middle of the Mojave desert.  While CA-58 is a freeway, it is not an Interstate.

[lordsutch]

US 51 north of Covington, TN has one. As does US 82 in Greenville, MS (full welcome center) and across the river in AR too. Another couple: US 49 in Helena-West Helena AR and US 49/61 north of Clarksdale MS (relatively new).

In the "freeway but not Interstate" file, there's an MDOT welcome center off US 45 in Corinth, MS (not directly on the freeway, accessed by local roads). And until a few weeks ago, US 78 at Tremont, MS.

If we're counting rest areas/welcome centers that aren't directly off a freeway but serve them through an interchange and perhaps a short jaunt on local roads, there are a bunch. Examples include I-185 in Columbus GA, I-24 near Metropolis IL, I-10 near Bay St. Louis MS, I-35/US 83 north of Laredo TX, and I-40 in Memphis TN.

[txstateends]

Current list/map of rest areas in TX (not counting the more numerous picnic areas in the state that the OP isn't referring to):
http://www.txdot.gov/driver/travel/rest-areas-map.html

Some of those will eventually be parts of the roadside I-69s.

[nexus73]

US 101 in Curry County OR has one by Nesika Beach (a few miles north of Gold Beach) that used to be signed as a rest stop on the beach side of the highway.  Now the signage is for a state park but it is the same old rest stop...LOL!

On the north side of Brookings OR along 101 is a conventionally signed rest stop.  That one is on the east side of the highway.  It is a real bear to get into from the southbound lane as well as turn left (south) when leaving. 

SR 42 in Oregon used to have one between Remote and Camas Valley but when the highway was realigned the rest stop disappeared.

Rick

Rick

[jdb1234]

US 231 in Alabama has one between Troy and Montgomery.

Those two have been closed for years.  There is one near Ozark on US 231.

[TEG24601]

There is one on US-2 near Steven's Pass in Washington at Nason Creek.  For years it was there but closed, but in the last 10 years, they remodeled the whole facility.

[Thing 342]

NC has a few:
US-17 has the Dismal Swamp Canal "Welcome Center" near the VA border.
US-64 has a rest area on an at-grade section near Plymouth, but none on the lengthy freeway section between Raleigh and Williamston.
US-158 has one in Currituck County on the way to/from the Outer Banks.

VA also has the waysides along Skyline Drive, if you want to count those.

[Sykotyk]

Oregon has lots of them.

Off the top of my head, US-97 has 4 of them: South of Klamath Falls, near Chemult, north of Terrebonne, and at the Jct. with US-197. US-20 has two rest areas between Bend and Burns (and infuriatingly, the only one between Burns and Ontario is closed! I peed behind the locked up toilet there...). US-26 has one between Seaside and Portland, one at government camp, one in the Ochocos east of Prineville, and one near John Day (it's a state park but I think signed as a rest area; if it's not signed as one, it acts as one). There's loads more too. Here's a map of all of them: https://tripcheck.com/Pages/RAentry.asp#

I slept at that rest area. Didn't expect it and it was late and I was tired. So glad it was there.


As for non-interstate/non-freeway rest areas (i.e., ones with facilities), one major one would be the Florida Welcome Center on US-231 south of Dothan, AL. But, that's a welcome center. So, may not be counting them.

One surprise was driving US280 west from Americus, GA toward Plains, GA was a Georgia Welcome Center on a two-lane road. Must get a lot of traffic due to U.S. route, but seems overdone.

[Big John]

One surprise was driving US280 west from Americus, GA toward Plains, GA was a Georgia Welcome Center on a two-lane road. Must get a lot of traffic due to U.S. route, but seems overdone.

It is just outside Plains and most likely has to do with Jimmy Carter being from Plains.

[peterj920]

There's one on Wisconsin 42 just south of Algoma:  (though WisDOT calls it a wayside).

The Waysides in Wisconsin are not rest areas.  They are seasonal
and don't have the amenities that a rest area has.  Wisconsin has a map of rest areas I posted below:

http://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/travel/road/rest-areas/locations.aspx

[thenetwork]

All of the rest areas on I-70 west of Denver are technically off the interstate via a local exit yet are maintained by CDOT.  There are a few eastbound or westbound-only parking areas or scenic view ramps that look like they are rest areas, but they have no facilities, with the exception of the Truck Parking area atop Vail Pass eastbound -- they have a couple of porta-pottys.

[cpzilliacus]

Maryland has rest area/welcome centers on U.S. 15 southbound at Emmitsburg and northbound U.S. 301 at Newburg and in the median of U.S. 301 near Church Hill north of Centreville - in addifion to the one mentioned upthread on U.S. 13 north of the Virginia line near Pokomoke City.

[DandyDan]

I forgot about the one in Kansas at the intersection of US 36 and old US 75 south of Sabetha and west of Fairview.  I'm surprised when they built the current US 75 that they didn't build a new rest area to go with it.

[GCrites]

Haydenville Rd. is a county road west of Nelsonville OH that is an old alignment of US-33. It has what was a primitive rest area that is now a park. The balance of the facilities remained intact but I don't know if the toilet facilities remain. The new alignment opened within the past couple years.

[cl94]

Haydenville Rd. is a county road west of Nelsonville OH that is an old alignment of US-33. It has what was a primitive rest area that is now a park. The balance of the facilities remained intact but I don't know if the toilet facilities remain. The new alignment opened within the past couple years.

That unsigned picnic area? I didn't even know it had restrooms. If you're not paying attention, you'll miss it.

[GCrites]

It may have never been upgraded from wooden pit toilets to the block ones. Are there any wooden toilet areas left in Ohio? I remember using a wooden one on OH-28 in the mid-2000s.

[roadman65]

US 13 in Smyrna, DE has one just south of the DE 1 Turnpike north of the city center.

[roadfro]

Nevada has many non-freeway rest areas. NDOT denotes rest areas on their state highway map, and also has a separate rest area map (PDF) (also includes copy of rest area amenities table from the state map). Of the rest areas located adjacent to Interstate highways, only three are actually on the interstate: Beowawe, Pequop, and Wadsworth–others are located off interstate at an interchange with another route.

Of note with Nevada's rest areas is that many are simple roadside rest locations. There are several that don't have running water, and a few that don't even have picnic tables. NDOT has closed a few in recent years, but also built a huge new one in southern Nevada in that time also.


EDIT: Completed my unfinished final sentence.

[vdeane]

I'm pretty sure rest areas without bathrooms or anything are supposed to be called parking areas.

[roadfro]

I'm pretty sure rest areas without bathrooms or anything are supposed to be called parking areas.

MUTCD guidance suggests the signing of a rest area without restrooms reflect the primary type of service area provided, such as "picnic area", "roadside park", "parking area", etc. (it is a guidance statement, so not required to use alternate wording).

With a few of their rest areas, I'm pretty sure NDOT gets around this recommendation by just not signing the rest area. The Crystal Springs rest area is little more than a clear dirt area with some trees, trash cans, and maybe a picnic table located in the top of the 'Y' junction of SR 318 & SR 375, just a half mile off the SR 318 & US 93 junction. This area has no signage at all, but is a place many people stop (one of the "Extraterrestrial Highway" signs is located here).