The disappearing roadside rest area...

[froggie]

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2013/06/disappearing-american-original-roadside-rest-area/5783/

Interesting article in The Atlantic Cities about roadside rest areas (sometimes called other things in other states...Virginia calls them "Waysides", Minnesota calls them "Wayside Rests"), how they're disappearing, and a Texas lady's photoproject to document them.

For our part, Mapmikey has been doing something similar for the Virginia waysides on the Virginia Highways Project.

[jeffandnicole]

I also found it interesting that the writer of the story never once said that he/she eats or has eaten at these rest areas.  Nor do I recall reading in the story that the person saw anyone eating at one of these.  So if the writer isn't eating there, and no one else is eating there, why would or should they remain?

In my experience, the areas that are the most rural, or desolate, still have the most roadside picnic areas and rest stops.

Seems self-explanatory, doesn't it?

[Brandon]

The roadside tables are a waste, IMHO, without a washroom of some kind, be it flush toilets or pit toilets.  I despise the ones in Illinois due to their lack of toilet facilities.  The ones in Wisconsin and Michigan are far more useful with their toilet facilities.

[pctech]

I remember basic roadside tables label as "rest areas" here in Louisiana from my childhood. Non had restrooms nor were they very inviting looking. These were mainly on U.S. highways. We also used to have "litter barrels" along major highways with warning signs alerting you that one was near.
Now we have closed most of the rest areas on the interstate system (other than welcome centers) as well.

Mark

[kphoger]

The roadside tables are a waste, IMHO, without a washroom of some kind, be it flush toilets or pit toilets.  I despise the ones in Illinois due to their lack of toilet facilities.  The ones in Wisconsin and Michigan are far more useful with their toilet facilities.

Agreed.  A port-a-potty is all that's really required for the truly desperate.

[wxfree]

In Texas, a rest area has restroom facilities.  Other roadside parks are called picnic areas and are often in scenic places.  Some are really interesting.  I've seen some fairly large picnic areas, and never have seen anyone having a picnic.  They're mostly used by truckers taking their breaks.  I haven't read anything about reducing the number of rest areas or picnic areas here.  Actually, many are being improved by adding free wi-fi service.

If my $2 per week lottery ticket habit ever pays out a jackpot, I plan to make it a point to have a picnic at every picnic area in Texas, over a period of years, of course.

[vdeane]

The roadside tables are a waste, IMHO, without a washroom of some kind, be it flush toilets or pit toilets.  I despise the ones in Illinois due to their lack of toilet facilities.  The ones in Wisconsin and Michigan are far more useful with their toilet facilities.

I remember when I was young my family would always eat sandwiches at one on I-81 north on the way to the 1000 Islands.  We've done the same thing at one on the Thruway (not a service area) and one on NY 17.

[agentsteel53]

a washroom of some kind, be it flush toilets or pit toilets

I've seen plenty of places which offer a pit toilet and no washing facility.  no plumbing.

[Brian556]

There used to be a picnic area with no restroom on I-35W south of Denton, TX. Rest/picnic areas without restrooms are horrible idea.
What is the #1 reason a driver stops? To go #1 (or sometimes #2)

If people only used them for picnics, the problem wouldn't be so bad. The problem is that they are not used for picnics, they are used for truck parking areas.

When I worked for TxDot, this picnic area was still in service, and we had to maintain it. Truckers parked there overnight, and, of course, they had to go. They would pee in jugs or ziplock bags nad place them in trash receptacles or on the ground. They would urinate on the ground so much that the whole place smelled like pee. As for #2, they would mostly do that in fast food containers, and leave them on the ground. Someone even pooped on a picnic table.

They shut it down after I quit working for them. Good Riddance.

[thenetwork]

I remember when Ohio had a slew of roadside rests (also labeled as Rest Areas in Ohio).  Once the freeways were in place and McDonalds sprouted up at practically every other exit, there was no need for these roadside rests anymore.  The majority had pit toilets and hand-pumped well water stations.

Along the old US-6/US-50 alignment west of Mack, CO, there is a remnant of an old Roadside Rest/Rest Area, perhaps with a Welcome Center at one time (as it was near the Utah line). When I-70 was completed, the rest area was well out of the way for 98.99% of the travelers, so it has long since been abandoned.   

[NE2]

Pooing is cool?

[1995hoo]

The roadside tables are a waste, IMHO, without a washroom of some kind, be it flush toilets or pit toilets.  I despise the ones in Illinois due to their lack of toilet facilities.  The ones in Wisconsin and Michigan are far more useful with their toilet facilities.

Agreed.  A port-a-potty is all that's really required for the truly desperate.

I'd say a tree is all that's really required for the truly desperate, at least for men anyway. (I try to avoid having to "sit" on long road trips whenever possible, although I can think of one instance where I was stricken and wound up hiding behind a bridge abutment. It sounds like NE2 might prefer to "sit" in as many public restrooms as possible.)

[agentsteel53]

I'd say a tree is all that's really required for the truly desperate, at least for men anyway.

not even that.  but yes, it is more comfortable to squat while hugging a tree, than to just squat in the open.

[1995hoo]

I'd say a tree is all that's really required for the truly desperate, at least for men anyway.

not even that.  but yes, it is more comfortable to squat while hugging a tree, than to just squat in the open.

My reference to a tree was more in the context of taking a leak and of course you're right that a tree isn't required. I simply think a tree is preferable so that you're not standing there in plain view of everyone passing by in case a cop who's having a bad day comes driving along. Though I do recall our July 1989 Boy Scout trip to PEI on which several of us needed to stop to whiz somewhere in the middle of nowhere out on Maine State Route 9 between Bangor and Calais, so we just stopped on the side of the road. The sight of six Boy Scouts and two adult leaders, all in full uniform, lined up and obviously taking leaks seemed to provide great amusement to passing truck drivers who sounded their horns as they passed.

The bigger issue with copping a squat, IMO, is whether you're on a slope and so have to position yourself accordingly lest anything runny come out..... Have I thought too much about such issues from time to time? Maybe. But you'd be surprised how 11-year-old Boy Scouts possessed of the need to piss late at night tend to forget obvious facts like the principle that your stream of urine will flow downhill such that you shouldn't go piss immediately uphill of your tent!

[agentsteel53]

I simply think a tree is preferable so that you're not standing there in plain view of everyone passing by in case a cop who's having a bad day comes driving along.

I generally use the sound test.  if the road has plenty of cars, then I walk about 15-20 feet perpendicular to it and go there.  in plain sight, just so that a careening vehicle will hopefully attempt to avoid me. 

but on a lonely enough road, I feel like if I wait for a moment when I hear absolutely no cars, I'm good for the 20 seconds or so that it takes me to expel the relevant liquid, and I'll go just on the shoulder, or sometimes even in the travel lanes for a low-occupancy road.

[1995hoo]

....

but on a lonely enough road, I feel like if I wait for a moment when I hear absolutely no cars, I'm good for the 20 seconds or so that it takes me to expel the relevant liquid, and I'll go just on the shoulder, or sometimes even in the travel lanes for a low-occupancy road.

Heh. I've done that on the shoulder of Interstate 77 just south of I-81 when traffic was at an utter standstill. I just set the handbrake, left the car stopped in the lane of traffic, and stood on the shoulder doing my business. I was on my way to a football game in Charlotte (Virginia versus West Virginia) and just about all the other cars around were full of West Virginia fans who seemed to appreciate what I was doing (at least, they stopped giving me the finger and yelling profanities long enough to beep their horns and such while I was taking care of business....West Virginia fans seem to have trouble with the idea that if there were no opposing team with its own fanbase, there wouldn't be a game at all).

[NE2]

Just pee against your tire...

[lepidopteran]

Back in the 70s, and probably for sometime after, the Pennsylvania Turnpike had a LOT of roadside picnic areas.  Most if not all were west of Harrisburg, IIRC.  All they seemed to have was a picnic bench or two, a brick/stone barbecue, and a garbage can.  There was a small space off the turnpike shoulder to park, and the picnic areas were identified by a small sign with a tree and picnic table pictogram with the number of feet ahead and/or an arrow pointing.

I think the parking areas for some of these old picnic areas were paved and enlarged, possibly as breakdown areas for trucks?

[Scott5114]

Picnic tables are really only useful if you're going to go through the trouble to make food at home and pack it with you. If you're buying food on the road, most restaurants are going to have a dining room, so why not eat there? If you do have food and try to eat a picnic table, it's still too impractical to bother. You're going to have to deal with insects while you're eating, but in this part of the country, the worse problem will be the wind trying to blow things around while you're trying to eat (including trying to blow dirt onto your food). No thanks. If I have food from home I want to eat, I'm going to eat it in the car, which I don't necessarily need a designated turnout for; I can just pull over or park in some random lot to eat.

[froggie]

Picnic tables are really only useful if you're going to go through the trouble to make food at home and pack it with you. If you're buying food on the road, most restaurants are going to have a dining room, so why not eat there? If you do have food and try to eat a picnic table, it's still too impractical to bother.

Scott:  I've had occasions where it was a nice day and the restaurant I stopped at didn't have outdoor seating, so I'd stop at a park or picnic area or whatnot to enjoy lunch/dinner outside.

You're going to have to deal with insects while you're eating, but in this part of the country, the worse problem will be the wind trying to blow things around while you're trying to eat (including trying to blow dirt onto your food).

Oh no!  Someone might have to deal with...the outdoors! The horror!

As an aside, you've never gone camping, have you?

[US81]

In general, I liked them and miss them. At least in Texas, they have been associated with something scenic or historic (at least off the interstates) often enough that I usually stop when I encounter one that is new to me. I made it an element of family road trips to have some sort of snack at these, maybe not a whole meal, but some bit of refreshment during which we would enjoy the view or the shade or the bit of historical information. It saddens me (though I suppose it doesn't surprise me) to hear about how they are mis-used.

[sp_redelectric]

Strange.  Out here in Oregon, I've only known of two that flat out closed - one was a rest area on I-205 in West Linn frequented by drug dealers (and was otherwise unnecessary, was only for westbound/southbound traffic, and there was another rest area about 15 miles away on I-5 south of Wilsonville), and another one on Oregon 22 that was actually a State Park outside of Salem, also known for drug dealing.  I think Oregon did close some off of the Interstates but that's it.

All the ones on I-5 and I-84 are still open, although I guess Oregon doesn't offer any of the full service rest areas that other states might in the east.  Same with Washington - I don't believe any of their rest areas on freeways have been shuttered completely.

[Pete from Boston]

About two years ago Connecticut tried to close its non-commercial rest areas.  This was in the midst of a still-ongoing program to reinvigorate the earning potential of the commercial ones by rebuilding them and expanding their offerings, and I think it seemed logical to eliminate any that didn't pay for themselves.  Ultimately, protests from truckers and others led to a reversal.

I'm on the fence, personally.  The distances in CT don't necessarily justify having the rest areas.   But having spent innumerable hours on those roads late at night, the rest areas at least provided me with someplace I was actually allowed to nap if need be. 

Plus, I like the increasing frequency of Boy Scouts and others setting up coffee/snack stands at these.

[deathtopumpkins]

I'm on the fence, personally.  The distances in CT don't necessarily justify having the rest areas.   But having spent innumerable hours on those roads late at night, the rest areas at least provided me with someplace I was actually allowed to nap if need be. 

I would agree with you, with the exception of the one on I-84 east of Hartford. That stretch of the interstate is very boring and fairly desolate. It's a nice easy restroom / leg-stretching break between the commercial development around Hartford and the service plazas on the Mass Pike.

[Pete from Boston]

I'm on the fence, personally.  The distances in CT don't necessarily justify having the rest areas.   But having spent innumerable hours on those roads late at night, the rest areas at least provided me with someplace I was actually allowed to nap if need be. 

I would agree with you, with the exception of the one on I-84 east of Hartford. That stretch of the interstate is very boring and fairly desolate. It's a nice easy restroom / leg-stretching break between the commercial development around Hartford and the service plazas on the Mass Pike.

I agree, but with a large 24-hour truck stop/"travel plaza" one exit east, it's arguably the most redundant.