A Roadside Distraction from the Destination

As the holiday travel season begins, Becky Krystal reminisces on rest stops encountered along family road trips and observes that "stops are evolving from small, flypaper-plastered restrooms into airy, high-tech travel plazas and welcome centers."

2 minute read

November 20, 2012, 8:00 AM PST

By Jessica Hsu


On Interstate 25 south of Cheyenne, Wyoming, a $16 million welcome center consists of exhibits representing the state including a re-creation of a dinosaur dig site and a replica of Butch Cassidy's jail cell. "The Wyoming welcome center and other 21st century highway rest stops have come a long way since their rustic predecessors," writes Krystal. The first facility apparently came to existence in the late 1920s when an engineer built picnic tables to give families a safe place to stop and rest, and the picnic areas evolved into the roadside parks of the 1940's and '50s to the utilitarian structures of the 1960's and '70s. Many of those structures are now worn down, and public-private partnerships are working on rebuilding them. For example, the 48-year-old Maryland House and the nearby 36-year-old Chesapeake House in Maryland will be torn down and reopened with gas stations and food vendors.

"The right to offer such commercial outlets is the exception rather than the rule," says Krystal. From the early years of the interstate system, the Federal Highway Administration enforced a commercial ban "to prevent monopolies for services and to ensure that travelers didn't feel pressured to buy things." However, rest stops that don't offer commercial services have pursued other options like enhanced vending machines and information kiosks in Virginia, farmers markets on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, themed centers in Texas and Missouri, and free WiFi in Maryland, Iowa and North Dakota. Many of these new facilities are also eco-friendly with LEED-certification and a geothermal pump system in Virginia; solar panels in California, Wyoming, and Oregon; wind turbines in Missouri; and green roofs at rest stops throughout the country.

"The new generation of features and amenities can sound too good to be true, given the economic difficulties many states have encountered over the past few years," admits Krystal. States have reduced service at or even shut down rest areas in the past few years, but "rest areas aren't on the verge of extinction - yet, anyway." Rest areas are "now an established part of American travel," said Joanna Dowling, a historian who created www.restareahistory.org, and "a very valuable commodity," said Lon Anderson, the managing director of public and government relations for AAA Mid-Atlantic who helped organize opposition to the closings.

Friday, November 16, 2012 in The Washington Post

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

July 6 - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

July 6 - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine