Gribblenation

Since a snowstorm forecast for this weekend would probably scuttle my road trip plans, I decided to take advantage of the temporarily spring-like weather on Thursday (1/28) to visit the two newly opened I-73/74 Rest Areas/Visitor Centers. SOUTHBOUND VISITOR CENTER My first stop was the southbound rest area that is up a hill and looks over the freeway corridor below. Below is a photo of the complex, except for the vending area: Here's a closer look at the Visitor Center itself: The controversy over building these rest areas was whether they should be 'Welcome Centers' or 'Visitor Centers.' The state backed down on Welcome Centers because they would be run on state funds and were seen as inappropriate for this location. From looking at the photos above, and the what was put into the surroundings, it appears what we have here though is Welcome Centers in all but name. The parking lots for both are very large, at least just as large as the I-85 South Welcome Center near...

*(At least the Northbound one) From Sunday's (1/17/10) Asheboro Courier Tribune- "After years of planning and a little over one year of construction, the Piedmont Visitor Centers on the Randolph/Montgomery County line are open for business — at least to northbound travelers. Those headed south may have to wait about one more week. DOT officials project that half a million travelers will stop at the two Visitors Centers each year. On Friday [1/15], facilities on the northbound side of U.S. 220 Bypass began welcoming visitors. The doors were opened at roughly 3:30 p.m. after some last-minute work to remove traffic barrels and check on guard rails. Jeff Loflin, DOT regional engineer, said final work on signage is stalling the opening of the facility on U.S. 220 Bypass South. He expects those concerns to be cleared up quickly. Visitor Centers in the center of the state are a unique phenomenon for North Carolina. North Carolina has nine state-operated welcome centers operated by a ...