Why are Minnesota’s roadside rest areas so nice?

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Highway rest areas in Minnesota are often more than just simple bathrooms. Some are downright artistic.

The green roofs, sculptural play areas, and prominent artwork of two newly redesigned rest areas near the state’s southern border on Interstate 90, for example, recently made them finalists for “America’s Best Restroom.” (The rankings are overseen by a soap dispenser company.) They also earned praise from the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Reader Mark Thompson has been wondering about Minnesota’s vast and varied network of rest areas, which range from lowly vault toilets to artful potty palaces. He contacted the Strib’s community reporting project, Curious Minnesota.

“During my drives around the state I became curious about wayside rests and the process of designing and locating these facilities,” he said. “How many wayside rests are in Minnesota? How is it decided where they will be?”

For some travelers, a rest area may be the only place they visit in Minnesota. And Minnesota’s rest areas stand out from those in other states, said Jenny Krantz, the rest area program manager at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).

“Some states, you drive through and the rest areas are sort of carbon copies of each other. They’re pretty standardized,” Krantz said. “I really appreciate that in Minnesota, each rest area really is unique.”

MnDOT owns and operates 62 rest areas with a toilet. An additional 165 wayside rests offer a place to pull off the road. State officials locate them strategically to alleviate drowsy or distracted driving, Krantz said.

Rest areas have long played a role in tourism for the state.

The state began installing rest areas in the 1930s because of the “huge travel boom” that decade, said Andrea Weber, who manages MnDOT’s historic roadside properties program. Those early rest areas were often located in scenic spots along the routes that automobile tourists drove while taking in the state’s sights.

“Minnesota was really ahead of the curve in developing these facilities,” Weber said. The state built them near resorts, along rivers, at scenic overlooks and near historic markers, sometimes in conjunction with the Minnesota Historical Society.

State highway planners had safety in mind as well as tourism, she said.

“If you think of a 1930s vintage vehicle, it’s pretty rough riding, and they broke down a lot. Their tires burst a lot,” Weber said. “So they would need places to stop and do repairs, pour some water in the engine, drink some water, have a picnic — all those things.”

Twenty-five of the state’s rest areas are either listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, Weber said. Early rest stops featured signs describing historical features or events in the area. Only one of the first batch of signs still exists, in the west-central town of Clitherall, explaining the “Old Town” settled there in 1865.

“It may not be the first installed, but it is the oldest existing” rest area, Weber said.

Today, the state owns and operates four classes of rest areas.

The most prominent among them are the 50 Class I centers that have heating, air conditioning, flush toilets and more. Some, like the St. Croix Welcome Center near the Minnesota-Wisconsin border on Interstate 94, include staffed booths run by the state’s tourism agency, Explore Minnesota. During open hours, a worker answers visitors’ questions about what to see and do in the state, alongside a bevy of free maps and brochures.

There are nine Class II rest areas, which have vault toilets for men and women. They are seasonal, located in areas that are less-traveled during the winter. The handful of Class III centers just have a single vault toilet. And there are 165 Class IV sites, which have no toilet.

Drivers often think that rest areas are spaced along highways to provide a bathroom break. But that’s not their most important role in the state’s transportation system, Krantz said.

“Their main purpose is to serve a safety function,” she said.

Like neighboring states, Minnesota tries to space its rest areas about 50 to 60 miles apart. That is because studies have shown that breaks are needed in order for drivers to be safe, Krantz said. Many now have walking trails, off-leash pet areas and play structures for kids.

“Spacing always has to balance operational and maintenance costs, " she said. “Fifty to 60 miles apart is about the sweet spot.”

MnDOT uses a host of criteria — including visitor numbers, accessibility and building condition — to decide which rest areas should rise to the top of the list to be remodeled. Some, like the award-winning rest stops on Interstate 90 in Jackson, are entirely torn down and rebuilt.

A number of the latest rest area projects have drawn praise from architects and design critics that belies their humble function.

“The most exquisite rest-area building I’ve ever seen,” wrote AIA juror Mimi Hoang about the award-winning Straight River Northbound Safety Rest Area on I-35 south of Owatonna. “The only problem is that it would be a very long time before I got back into my car to drive. This little building is incredibly sensitive to its context, well sited, and beautiful. What more do you want from architecture?”

Designed by Snow Kreilich Architects and finished in 2016, the striking rest stop has an angled, stainless steel-clad entrance, giving it a museum-like vibe.

“We hire a consultant team usually led by an architecture firm for those building projects,” said Krantz. “They’re creating buildings that are easy to maintain, using very resilient materials, and can do that in a beautiful, functional way.”

Her own favorite is the 2019 Goose Creek Safety Rest Area on I-35 between the Twin Cities and Duluth, with its round, wood-slatted building and wraparound walkway overlooking the creek.

Not everyone is enthusiastic about the high-end architecture. The Goose Creek project drew criticism from fiscal conservatives several years ago for its more than $7 million cost. MnDOT maintained that the site had not been updated in 50 years and the work included a new retaining wall and sewer system.

Even as new buildings open, the state is also identifying and restoring historic rest areas. Because the National Register goes back 50 years, the latest properties being considered are “modernist” buildings from the 1970s. They have a familiar, old school Pizza Hut-like roof shape, Weber said.

“It’s kind of fun to start working on this new era of design as a historic property,” she said. “When you start meeting with people about it, and you tell them it’s historic, you get some skepticism, like, ‘What?’”

Krantz said rest stops remain important amenities, even with plentiful gas stations and truck stops on the roads. Nationally, there is a shortage of truck parking, Krantz said, and other stops aren’t necessarily compliant with Minnesota’s building code in terms of accessibility.

Rest areas — many of which have picnic tables — also cater to the type of thrifty traveler who packs sandwiches for a road trip.

“They’re an important public space,” Weber said. “You don’t have to pay or buy anything to use them.”

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