• At Newton Brook in Dixfield

• Along Route 2 in Wilton

• At Lemon Stream, Route 27, in New Vineyard

• At Greenwood Shores, Route 26 in Greenwood

• At Crooked River in Waterford

State plans to close five rest areas

DIXFIELD – The “picnic area closed” sign posted during the winter at the rest area along Newton Brook on Route 2 will become permanent on May 1.

The popular rest area is one of five in Western Maine slated for closure by the Maine Department of Transportation, Region 3, which is the agency that has maintained them for years.

Robert Holbrook, a transportation operating manager out of Region 3 MDOT in Dixfield, said Tuesday that along with the Dixfield site, the Wilton rest area along Route 2 overlooking Lakeview Cemetery, Lemon Stream rest area along Route 27 in New Vineyard, Greenwood Shores along Route 26 in Greenwood, and the Crooked River rest area in Waterford are scheduled to close unless the areas’ respective towns want to take over their maintenance.

He said the decision to close the rest areas is a result of many factors, including cost and the economic changes in some of the affected towns. He said other rest areas, although not scheduled to close, may be down-graded.

Holbrook said the 22 rest areas managed by Region 3 each cost between $3,000 and $12,000 a year to maintain, contingent upon their location. He could not provide the cost for each of the five set for closure.

However, Wilton Town Manager Peter Nielsen said he has learned that the cost for Pleasant View in his town cost about $10,000 a year.

He said his Board of Selectmen has asked him to gather information, including the incidents of criminal activity at the Wilton site, then bring it to the board for discussion next Tuesday.

In Dixfield, Selectman Raymond Carlton, who said the Newton Brook Rest Area gets lots of use, asked acting Town Manager John Madigan to research the cost needed to keep that site open.

Holbrook said New Vineyard has shown no interest in the Lemon Stream site, and he does not know whether any of the other impacted towns want to keep their rest areas open.

Besides cost, Holbrook said the MDOT looked at other reasons when deciding which sites to close. In Dixfield, he said the Newton Brook site is at a dangerous corner of Route 2 as well as near a planned future road construction project. In Wilton and some of the other sites, services that once were not available to travelers are now nearby. The Lemon Stream site is half-way between Farmington and Kingfield, which also has necessary services.

If the respective towns do not take over maintenance of the rest areas, Holbrook said the MDOT will remove all facilities, such as picnic tables and toilets, then close off the areas.

He said other transportation regions across the state are also looking to close rest areas. Phone calls to state transportation engineer Bob LaRouche in Augusta were not returned to discuss additional rest area closures.