Abandoned Rest Areas

[vtk]

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.

This is the first I've ever heard of that.  Would be nice to have one there, though I suppose with the Logan rest area existing, another one between there and Columbus is quite unlikely.

[GCrites]

Diggin' through my old maps and they show it from '53 to '77. My next map is '85 and doesn't have it. Looks like it was on the north side of the road, just west of Pickerington Rd.

[mhh]

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.

A new rest area/welcome center is under construction on westbound I-94/I-69 west of Port Huron; it's expected to open sometime in 2015. It will replace an undersized and obsolete rest area/welcome center that was closed several years ago when the Water Street interchange, to which it was adjacent, was reconfigured.

[briantroutman]

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.

I think you have the location right. The official 1960 map does not list this no services rest area, but the 1970 edition does, and it's shown as late as 1989, as far as I can see.

The map seems to suggest that it was even further north–roughly in line with where PA 74 and PA 194 intersect, but looking at the satellite images and street view, I can't imagine that the location you've identified isn't it. Here's a side-by-side showing an aerial from 1971 and a current image from Google.



So it appears to have been constructed at some point in the '60s and removed in the '90s. These dates also coincide with two other no services rest areas along US 15–one on the northbound side north of New Buffalo and another on the southbound side near the Union/Snyder county line, south of Winfield. In both of those cases, though, the pavement was left in place and the areas simply blocked off.

[DevalDragon]

Closing rest areas seems to be a growing trend. Recent trips on I-44 across Missouri and I-20 across Louisiana found rest areas every 70 miles or so - previous trips found them every 35. In Louisiana they tore them out completely and in Missouri some have been removed and others converted to truck parking only.

[amroad17]

When the interstates were first built, there were not many amenities at many interchanges.  To help travelers, rest areas were built somewhat close--usually 30-45 miles apart.  At interchanges, there may have been gas stations and an occasional restaurant, but nothing like there is today.  Many of the gas stations are now convenience stores and more restaurant chains have developed since the early 1980's, enough of both that there may be at least one at nearly every interchange.  Rest areas became less used so many states decided to shut some down to save costs and to rid the outdated 1960's-built ones, many of which did not have adequate plumbing.  Because of all this, many rest areas are located anywhere from 60-120 miles apart nowadays.  They just are not needed as much now.

I admit, I would rather get off an interchange and get snacks, drinks, or food from a store than a vending machine.  However, if I need to use the restroom or just stretch my legs, it is good to know that there is a rest area I can do that in.

[GCrites]

^ I figure since rest areas are subsidized I might as well overconsume them -- taking small pisses, grabbing a third copy of a map and filling up a cup from the drinking fountain.

[vtk]

Rest areas are still the best place for a tired driver to take a nap.  They are rest areas, after all.

[Pete from Boston]

Rest areas are still the best place for a tired driver to take a nap.  They are rest areas, after all.

I get what you're saying, but someplace well-lit and well-traveled is the best place for a nap. Sometimes this is a rest area, sometimes it isn't.  The advantage a rest area has is that because it's public, you are presumably not going to get kicked out for napping there.

[Fred Defender]

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.

Here is an aerial shot of one that once stood on I-75 northbound just south of the Suwannee River north of Exit #439:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Jasper,+FL+32052/@30.337111,-82.8251597,826m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x88eee111609ff351:0x3ee631a25357e654

You can still see the footprint fairly easily. I don't know exactly when it was abandoned. I know that it was still standing in 1988. It was pretty cool since the pavement looped back into the adjacent woods. It was possible to park fairly far away from the highway which made for much more pleasant snoozing.

Its southbound companion, I believe was a mile or so north on the other side of the river. SE 134th Ave makes a jog and I believe that this is where the SB RA once stood.

I believe that it was removed when the highway was 6-laned in the mid-1990's. It was not replaced and the next NB rest area is the Georgia Welcome Center some 35 miles farther north. My guess is that it was eliminated (no pun intended) for environmental reasons due to its close proximity to the river.

[Fred Defender]

Rest areas are still the best place for a tired driver to take a nap.  They are rest areas, after all.

I get what you're saying, but someplace well-lit and well-traveled is the best place for a nap. Sometimes this is a rest area, sometimes it isn't.  The advantage a rest area has is that because it's public, you are presumably not going to get kicked out for napping there.

You do have to be aware of your surroundings. Being armed doesn't hurt. This story created quite a stir in 1993:

http://flaglerlive.com/59037/rest-stop-murder/

[NE2]

Being armed doesn't hurt.

Unless you're black, in which case you're liable to get shot by the popo.

[Pete from Boston]

Rest areas are still the best place for a tired driver to take a nap.  They are rest areas, after all.

I get what you're saying, but someplace well-lit and well-traveled is the best place for a nap. Sometimes this is a rest area, sometimes it isn't.  The advantage a rest area has is that because it's public, you are presumably not going to get kicked out for napping there.

You do have to be aware of your surroundings. Being armed doesn't hurt. This story created quite a stir in 1993:

http://flaglerlive.com/59037/rest-stop-murder/

I've been to that rest area, one month before that incident.  It didn't meet my definition of well-lit or well-trafficked enough for a middle-of-the-night nap.  At that hour I would find a truck stop, or at the very least, a 24-hour Wal-Mart lot.  Either is far less complicated a solution than being armed.

[Fred Defender]

Being armed doesn't hurt.

Unless you're black, in which case you're liable to get shot by the popo.

Throw them a box of doughnuts and you'll be fine, regardless of your race.

[NE2]

Being armed doesn't hurt.

Unless you're black, in which case you're liable to get shot by the popo.

Throw them a box of doughnuts and you'll be fine, regardless of your race.

Touche.

[Fred Defender]

Here's another RA oddity on I-75 in Florida:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Venice,+FL/@27.111748,-82.3467127,855m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x88c34e48300b2dfb:0x52ac882236d6b362

I grew up in Venice and we used to ride our motorcycles on the unopened interstate back in 1980/81 between the time it was paved and its opening to traffic. I haven't even been to Venice since my dad passed away five years ago. They closed this rest area not too long after the highway opened because, supposedly, it was a gay hangout. All I know is that, before they closed it, it was an awesome place to ride a road bike. It was like a roadrace course.

Maybe someone who lives down that way can tell me: Did they reopen it? It looks pretty much undisturbed from the aerial shot. Not grown over as one would expect of an abandoned RA. I don't believe that they ever constructed restrooms at this one. As with my earlier post about the RA in North Florida, this one is very close to a river (Myakka).

This was one of several RA's (the other was in Punta Gorda) that was constructed at an exit and both NB and SB traffic shared one facility.

Edit: Guess I could have zoomed in. Not opened, apparently. FDOT storage site, perhaps? Looks like some of the asphalt has been taken up. So much for my roadrace course! Boo hoo.

[sbeaver44]

So it appears to have been constructed at some point in the '60s and removed in the '90s. These dates also coincide with two other no services rest areas along US 15–one on the northbound side north of New Buffalo and another on the southbound side near the Union/Snyder county line, south of Winfield. In both of those cases, though, the pavement was left in place and the areas simply blocked off.

Thank you, I knew I wasn't crazy!  I was trying to find evidence of another rest area on 15 between Shamokin Dam and Lewisburg, and that is the one!  I thought at first I was confusing it with the Picnic Area (not the Scenic Overlook) on 15 between PA 54 and South Williamsport.  (I have always really liked the Scenic Overlook - beautiful view)

[vtk]

Rest areas are still the best place for a tired driver to take a nap.  They are rest areas, after all.

I get what you're saying, but someplace well-lit and well-traveled is the best place for a nap. Sometimes this is a rest area, sometimes it isn't.  The advantage a rest area has is that because it's public, you are presumably not going to get kicked out for napping there.

I value that advantage highly.  You seem to worry more about crime than I do, imagining a tired driver needing a nap sometime after midnight.  But drivers can be tired at any time of day or night.

[1995hoo]

....

This was one of several RA's (the other was in Punta Gorda) that was constructed at an exit and both NB and SB traffic shared one facility.

....

I believe there's another such near Fort Myers off Daniels Parkway just east of I-75. I've never stopped there because our relatives live off Briarcliff Road and so we push on to their house when we're in that area.

[catch22]

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.

A new rest area/welcome center is under construction on westbound I-94/I-69 west of Port Huron; it's expected to open sometime in 2015. It will replace an undersized and obsolete rest area/welcome center that was closed several years ago when the Water Street interchange, to which it was adjacent, was reconfigured.

I suspect that this new rest area will also result in the closing of the one near Richmond.  The EB rest area there was rebuilt a few years ago, but the WB one was not.

[MarkF]

I remember there used to be a rest stop in the early 80s on I-15 between Primm (called State Line back then) and Jean, Nevada, at milepost 5.  You can see the outline of it on Google maps
https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=35.67696,-115.376658&spn=0.014764,0.018539&t=h&z=16

I think they took it out when the Nevada Welcome Center was put in at exit 12 near the now demolished Nevada Landing Casino.  The Welcome Center has since been moved to Primm.

[robbones]

There was one on I 40 in Arkansas @ mm 109.

[jeffandnicole]

Rest areas are still the best place for a tired driver to take a nap.  They are rest areas, after all.

I get what you're saying, but someplace well-lit and well-traveled is the best place for a nap. Sometimes this is a rest area, sometimes it isn't.  The advantage a rest area has is that because it's public, you are presumably not going to get kicked out for napping there.

You do have to be aware of your surroundings. Being armed doesn't hurt. This story created quite a stir in 1993:

http://flaglerlive.com/59037/rest-stop-murder/

Then again, open up any newspaper or website to find the murders and crime that occur at frequently visited places in the middle of the day.

[cl94]

Diggin' through my old maps and they show it from '53 to '77. My next map is '85 and doesn't have it. Looks like it was on the north side of the road, just west of Pickerington Rd.

Per topo maps, it was. Was in this location. You can sort of tell where it was on old aerial imagery, but it was cleared between 2006 and what is currently on Google Maps, so no evidence remains.

[vtk]

USGS 1994 aerial:


Wow, that's smaller than I thought it should be.  I wouldn't have spotted it unless I knew exactly where to look.  (I tried to find it on historical USGS topos the other day but Acrobat was being grumpy.)