T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Personal vehicles and commercial trucks are parked at one of Belmont County’s two rest areas on Interstate 70. Both facilities will close this week, and new buildings will be constructed on those sites.

BELMONT — The Ohio Department of Transportation will close the rest areas on Interstate 70 in Belmont and Muskingum counties Thursday for demolition and replacement.

The Belmont County rest areas are located at mile marker 210 along I-70 both east and westbound, while the Muskingum County rest area is located on I-70 westbound near mile marker 163. Demolition of buildings at those sites is expected to take place over the winter months, followed by construction of new facilities.

Motorists traveling on I-70 east toward Belmont County will find the nearest rest area in Guernsey County at mile marker 189. Rest areas are also located further west on both sides of I-70 in Licking County at mile marker 130.

ODOT Spokeswoman Lauren Borell described the planned work.

“They will actually be demolishing the entire structures on the east and westbound side of I-70 for the Belmont County rest areas. During that time, the rest areas will of course be closed to all traffic. We anticipate this closure to last about a year,” she said.

“It’ll be closed to parking. They’ll be barricaded off and inaccessible.

“We just ask that folks do their research in advance, as they can to find some nearby areas where they would be able to park. But ODOT will not be providing any official parking areas while this is under construction,” she said.

“These will be completely new structures, so all existing structures will be demolished and removed from the site,” she added. “This will include, of course, new restrooms and new facilities for folks who stop at those rest areas. They’ve just kind of met their lifetime, and it was time for those to be replaced.

“The new buildings will be a lodge-style building, and we are actually going to feature inside vending. At the current ones, there’s outside vending. The vending and Ohio tourism information will be all in the same building with the restrooms. Of course we’re going to add some new features utilizing technology. We’ll have a kiosk in there with information for those that are stopping in the area,” she said.

At the Belmont County rest areas, custodial supervisor Sherry Byers spoke about the projects.

“It’ll be awesome. It needs updated,” she said. “It will be rough (for truck drivers) because there’s not one for 100 miles and this place is full every night. They’re down both sides of the ramps, almost down to the next exit. … People love coming here. We get so many compliments.”

At the St. Clairsville post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Lt. Brian McFarland said drivers are reminded to be ready for the change.

“The public, they need to be aware of that. There’s going to be no place to stop for commercial trucks because the Muskingum County rest area, the Belmont and Muskingum County rest areas are the only rest areas that you see westbound until you reach Buckeye Lake, and both of those will be closed at the same time,” McFarland said, adding that drivers often park for extended periods at the stops. “There’ll be signage posted letting them know the rest areas are closed.

“The only thing we’re worried about is them using the berms and shoulders. The shoulders get soft, and trucks can become stuck.”

He also advises drivers to be careful of trucks parked alongside on-ramps and exit ramps.

The visitors center also holds promotional literature advertising Belmont County’s destinations for travelers. Tourism Director Jackee Pugh said the upgrade will bring some welcome changes.

“Part of the new design that they’re implementing is truly going to be a welcome center, so they wanted me to put together their top 10 attractions of Belmont County and supply them with information and photography. These new centers are going to be visual and so much more inviting and really tell the story of Belmont County before people even get off of Interstate 70 to explore it. I think all these changes, although there’s going to be some headaches probably in the interim year they’re going to be closed, I really think it’s a worthy project. It’s going to be huge and such an improvement for our area,” she said.

Meanwhile, promotional literature will still be found outside the Belmont County Tourism office at the Ohio Valley Mall.

“One of the things that we have here at our office is information outside of our door, so people can access that any time the mall is open – it doesn’t have to be during our normal visitor center hours – and we also have that information on our website,” she said. “We’ll put information on our website specific to those travelers that may have got information at the rest area where they come and find the literature here at our office.”

Pugh hopes tourism is not impacted during the work itself.

“I know that other rest areas across the state have been closed and are being remodeled. Talking to other tourism councils, they have not expressed that as any major impact that they have felt,” she said.

The tourism council website is visitbelmontcounty.com. More information about ODOT and its projects can be found at transportation.ohio.gov.