NORWAY – The Maine Department of Transportation says its picnic area beside Lake Pennesseewassee on Route 118 is one of nine in the region to be abandoned.

Town officials were notified recently that picnic tables, a restroom, grills and shelter overhangs will be removed from the site unless the town notifies the state by June 1 that it will maintain the picnic area, said Bob LaRoche, supervisor of landscape architecture for MDOT. The restroom will be removed regardless of any local decision, he said.

“We reviewed all the rest areas to see if they met the original need of why we built them,” LaRoche said. “Norway was so close to town we felt motorists could travel into town and avail themselves of the facilities.”

He said the state decided to remove the amenities and simply make the area a motorist turnabout.

In addition to the Norway picnic site, the state plans to either close or remove the facilities at eight other rest areas in the region in the coming months. Those sites include two on Route 2 in Wilton and Dixfield, another on Route 26 in Greenwood, two on Route 4 by Spruce Mountain and Avon, and one on Route 118 in Waterford. LaRoche said Waterford selectmen decided to assume what was previously the state’s responsibility and maintain the picnic area in that town.

It’s been about 50 years since the state decided to construct dozens of rest areas across the state to provide motorists with a safe place to rest. With facilities such as picnic tables and restrooms, the sites attracted not only out-of-town motorists, but locals who found a quiet and often picturesque place to have lunch.

In Norway, lunch came with what LaRoche concedes is a “spectacular view” of Lake Pennesseewassee and the mountains. “We envision people still using it,” he said.

So why get rid of it?

“The local region has decided,” LaRoche said of the recommendation made by the maintenance crew in Dixfield that maintains the restrooms and picnic areas. “It takes a lot of effort.”

Police Chief Robert Federico said he has had no reports of disruptive behavior or other problems at the rest area.