Why are so many rest stops closed?

mlts22 wrote:
People mention Texas. From what I see, there are a few "safety rest stops" that are built... but there are -so many- that have been destroyed in the past few years.

For example, there used to be rest stops on roads which had step-ladders, allowing people to go over the fence to use the farmland. Those are gone. Others (like the one on 71 between Austin and Bastrop) have been fenced in. Still others like the rest stop between 290 in Elgin and Giddings have had all their picnic stuff removed, and are, at best, unmarked turn-offs. The closest rest stop to me, in Austin, is over 100 miles away, when just a few years ago, one could go out many roads and find a picnic table.

It makes me just wonder... is crime in the US so bad that just having a place to pull off a highway for the night is too big a risk for the state of Texas to allow? I hate increased surveillance, but couldn't a rest stop with a set of high-res cameras for security do a decent job at deterring crime, if only having a license plate reader to catch potential getaway vehicles.

It would be nice to see some type of rest stops come back onto not just the big highways (I-10, I-35), but smaller roads as well, since it would be nice to crash out in the middle of rural Texas as opposed to trying to find a town that is big enough to have a Wal-Mart, but doesn't have an anti-overnighting regulation.

What I have noticed over the years is the byway picnic areas have become less used by travelers and frequent more by the locals of the area. I find the locals using the trash containers as their personal trash pickup point. The picnic area overlooking the Guadalupe river valley on 90A outside Shiner is a perfect example. The trash containers were ALWAYS full of household trash, not something a traveler would leave behind. The locals either have to burn it, pay for trash service or dump it. Dumping it at the state funded picnic area is like acquiring a free trash service. I also notice more trash scattered about the picnic areas in general. Soiled diapers have become common.

You mentioned a fence crossing. There was one years ago at a picnic area on 90A outside of Eagle Lake so travelers could go behind the trees to 'make water'. Again, the locals started dumping their trash on the private land across the fence. So now the crossing is gone and the fence is 6' tall.

There was a small one on 77A outside of Hallettsville where we used to stop years ago to take a break and pick up pecans during season. It too started having the same trash issue so now it's a thing of the past. The picnic tables and pavement have been removed and now it's just a small gravel pull out.

I think part of the problem of losing this type of stop is abuse and lack of respect. I do miss them.

Go to the one overlooking Wimberley on the Devil's Backbone. Now it has a tall fence with all kinds of makeshift memorials hanging on the fence. What's up with that?