Gurdon rest areas beset by woes

Age, location often leave two I-30 stops closed for repairs

A map showing the Gurdon rest areas.
A map showing the Gurdon rest areas.

The two rest areas on Interstate 30 near Gurdon in Clark County get plenty of rest.

In a 10-week period beginning Oct. 7 and ending on Dec. 15, the westbound rest area was closed for nearly eight weeks and the eastbound rest area was closed for almost four weeks, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

The department even took to Twitter to acknowledge the difficulties associated with keeping the rest areas -- separate ones for westbound traffic and eastbound traffic -- open for the traveling public.

Any time a rest area is closed, the agency's Twitter feed automatically issues an announcement to that effect for travelers.

"The Gurdon rest area is closed more than [it's] open isn't it?" asked Brandon Morris, an Atkins businessman, in a tweet he posted Dec. 13 in response to the department's tweet the same day announcing the latest closure of the westbound rest area.

"Seems that way lately," the department responded in a tweet. "Those facilities were built back in 1980 and those 30+ years have been rough on the pipes."

Jeff Venable, the district engineer for the department's District 7, which is based in Camden, said the rest areas likely date to the 1960s and are overdue for upgrades.

"The Gurdon Rest Areas are some of our older facilities," he said in an email. "Since they are out away from any community, they rely on a long service line for water and power and both sites operate with on-site wastewater treatment plants that are rather old and require continual maintenance."

The age and location of the rest areas also make them "vulnerable to outages of power and water frequently and when that happens we must close the site.

"If the power is off then the wastewater plant cannot operate so we do not want anyone using the facilities until power is restored. The same goes for when the water line breaks and the break has to be located and repaired, causing us to close the facilities."

Major repairs on the wastewater treatment facility, which includes a sand filtration system, "caused us to close the sites for a considerable length time," Venable added.

The section of I-30 that runs past the rest areas carries between 25,000 and 27,000 vehicles per day and has heavy use.

The next available rest area for eastbound travelers -- at Social Hill, which is 35 miles away -- is closed for remodeling.

For westbound travelers, the next available stop is the Arkansas Welcome Center at Texarkana, which is 46 miles from the Gurdon rest area.

"Currently the facility at Social Hill is getting a full makeover and should be up and running in the near future which will reduce the load on the Gurdon facilities," Venable said.

The Social Hill rest area, originally built in 1972, closed in March and is being turned into an upgraded Tourist Information Center. Its existing restrooms will be demolished and replaced with larger buildings to accommodate more restrooms that meet the latest requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and will feature infant changing stations.

The new center also will be equipped with self-service kiosks featuring the department's travel and construction information website, IDriveArkansas.com. Other kiosks will provide information about the weather and local amenities. Limited public Wi-Fi access also will be available.

The $1.8 million project is expected to be complete late next year, according to the department.

The rest area is one of five around the state that are closed for reconstruction, remodeling or repairs, according to Ray Gruver, head of the department's facilities management section. The state also has 12 Arkansas Welcome Centers. Unlike the rest areas or the tourist information centers, the welcome centers are staffed by Arkansas Parks and Tourism Department employees.

The Gurdon rest areas appeared to be busy on a recent rainy Friday. Ten cars and pickups, three tractor-trailer rigs and a recreational vehicle were parked in the westbound rest area. One of the five covered picnic tables was in use, and an attendant was restocking the vending machines.

"People like rest areas," said Danny Straessle, a department spokesman. "They feel like they have to buy something when they use commercial establishments."

The Gurdon rest areas have received mixed reviews in the past few months.

"Bathroom a little dated," according to one Google review posted four months ago. "If you have a pet that needs walked or want to stretch your own legs. Don't hesitate to stop."

But another one posted about the same time, noted: "Probably one of the more disgusting rest stops ive ever experienced. Wife said the girls side wasnt THAT bad, but the mens was unbelievable. On top of that it stunk like sewage outside so badly that I literally wanted to run away from the building."

Venable said the agency is doing the best it can within its budget.

"Bottom line is that the facilities are in need of upgrading, and funding is short. But we are not sure when the funding will be available to upgrade Gurdon's sites since there are several rest areas that are in need of upgrades," he said.

"In the meantime, we will keep maintaining and repairing as needed the sites at Gurdon and give our apologies when they need to be down for those repairs."

Metro on 12/31/2016

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