The Westbrook Rest Area/Welcome Center on Interstate 95 in Westbrook, CT might be receiving a new building after all.
During a public information meeting of the Connecticut Statewide Rest Area and Service Plaza Study, officials recently told residents at the Waterford Public Library about future plans for the welcome center.
Information about officials’ responses to numerous questions and comments from the public was obtained from the Summary of Matrix of Issues, Concerns, and Questions on www.ctrestareas.org.
A map released in July 2007 showed that every rest area, service plaza, and welcome center would receive new buildings as part of a proposed plan that would cost $550 million in today’s dollars.
There was one exception, however, the map specifically shows the Westbrook Rest Area/Welcome Center as “Existing Welcome Center” with no specific improvements planned for a facility which was last renovated and expanded in 1988.
However, during the meeting, officials said that “some upgrades may be possible” and the “plan includes replacing the building with a more modern building.”
No specifics are noted whether the rest area and welcome center would close operations during construction or the estimated cost of upgrades.
The building is located on Interstate 95 North between exits 65 and 66 and according to signs on the highway is designated as a “Rest Area/Connecticut Welcome Center.”
The Rest Area/Welcome Center is located south of the four-lane highways of Route 9 and Interstate 395. Route 9 brings traffic to Middletown and New Britain. It has connections with Merritt Parkway, Wilbur Cross Parkway, Interstate 91, and Interstate 84. Interstate 395 brings traffic to Norwich and Plainfield. It has connections with Route 2, Route 6, Route 44, and the Massachusetts Turnpike.
920 vehicles stop at the facility on an average Saturday, according to the study, which is the least busy highway side rest area in Connecticut.
The Rest Area/Welcome Center is also positioned one of the smallest parcels of any rest area and has the least amount of parking of any other rest area.
The facility has been a main stay on Connecticut Turnpike, the original designation of Connecticut Interstate 95, since it opened in 1959.
Those traveling on Interstate 95 Northbound from New York can stop at a welcome center located inside the Darien Service Plaza and other service plazas on the Interstate north of this include Fairfield, Milford, Branford, and Madison.
While the Darien welcome center portion has limited hours, all service plazas along the highway are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Currently, the Westbrook facility consists of a building with restrooms on the east side of the building, a glass lobby with vending machines directly off the lobby, and a staffed welcome center room on the west side of the building with informational pamphlets and brochures about area attractions and businesses.
Inside the staffed welcome center is an exhibit called “Connecticut: Yankee Ingenuity at Work”.
Pay phones and a large map of Connecticut are located in front of the building with a canine walk area located just beyond the 23 space parking lot.
Those spaces are designed for usage by cars and there is no designated tractor trailer parking on the site although they often can be found parked on either side of the on and off ramps.
Several trash cans have been anchored in a grassy area in front of the parking spaces for car trash.
A wooden fence hides two portable toilets placed on the east end of the welcome center building.
These toilets allow restroom facilities to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week even though the welcome center building is only open during staffing hours.
They also provide a set of secondary restrooms which are used by travelers when the building’s restrooms are closed for maintenance.
The facility is currently being staffed seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. between Memorial Day and Columbus Day.
During the rest of the year, staffing is limited to Thursday through Sunday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
One of 17 trained volunteers or two staff members sit behind a half-circle desk in the building’s information area.
One picnic area is located overlooking Interstate 95 between the Interstate and the access ramp to the rest area and is quite popular with truckers looking to get some fresh air.
That area has gardens which some residents at the informational meeting were concerned could be lost in the future.
“The study will recommend these gardens be preserved,” officials said at the meeting.
Another sheltered picnic area, behind the building, overlooks the nearby Tanger Outlet Center.
The Tanger Outlet Center consists of several outlet store buildings with approximately 65 stores, a Marquee 12-screen multiplex movie theater, and a large parking lot to accommodate vehicles for these businesses.
The site is constrained for expansion because of the close proximity of the outlet mall and this is clearly shown in an aerial blueprint shown on www.ctrestareas.org.
It is expected the new rest area/welcome center building would have restrooms, lobby space, and travel amenities. Those amenities could include Wi-Fi internet access or an information kiosk.
Due to space limitations, additional parking on the site would be minimal, if any.
Originally, the site was designated as a possible truck parking facility.
Under that plan, the current building would be demolished and the entire site would be reconfigured to allow maximum number of truck parking spaces and a small building to house vending machines and restrooms.
The proposal was aimed to combat the current shortage of truck parking spaces on Connecticut’s highways but was later eliminated when it was determined that the maximum number of truck parking spaces would be small due to the small size of the parcel.
The study, however, has recommended truck stops for the four-lane Route 20 highway in Windsor Locks, Interstate 91 in Hartford, and Interstate 95 in Waterford.
The Connecticut Rest Area Study has already recommended upgrading other existing welcome centers located in Darien on Interstate 95 North, Greenwich on Route 15 (Merritt Parkway) North, Danbury on Interstate 84 East, Willington on Interstate 84 West, and North Stonington on Interstate 95 South.
These upgrades would involve the creation of new buildings with restrooms and lobby space and new and upgraded travel amenities.
They have recommended new welcome centers for Montville, Plainfield, and Thompson on Interstate 395, Enfield on Interstate 91, and Torrington on Route 8.
The study has recommended brand new over-the-highway facilities to replace current service plaza buildings at the following service plazas: Interstate 395 in Montville between exits 79A and 79, Interstate 395 in Plainfield between exits 89 and 90, Interstate 95 in Madison between exits 61 and 62, Interstate 95 in Branford between exits 53 and 54, and Interstate 95 in Fairfield between exits 21 and 22.
