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ELLERBE – With a long-term agreement recently secured with the Town of Ellerbe, the N. C. Department of Transportation has begun making plans to renovate a rest area on U.S. 220 in Richmond County.
In November, the N.C. Board of Transportation approved a municipal agreement with the Town of Ellerbe to provide maintenance and operations of the town-owned rest area for the next 10 years.
The department's Roadside Environmental Unit, which oversees the agency's nearly 60 rest areas, has budgeted to spend up to $300,000 on various building and property repairs and upgrades at the rest area, which originally opened in 1953.
“We are glad to work with our local partners to keep this rest area open for the foreseeable future as a safe and convenient place for travelers to visit in the central part of the state," said Reuben Blakley, the Division 8 engineer who oversees highway operations in the state's rural Piedmont.
The Ellerbe Rest Area, which is about 2 miles west of Interstate 73/74, was closed by NCDOT in 2010 with the completion of the new Welcome Center/Rest Area on I-73-74 in Randolph County.
The town, however, purchased the shuttered rest area and reopened it in 2018 under a state pilot funding project. In 2019, the N.C. General Assembly provided further direction that involved NCDOT resuming operations of the Ellerbe Rest Area, although the town would continue to own the property.
Today, about 120,000 people visit the Ellerbe Rest Area each year.
The department is still reviewing the scope of work and timeline, which will be announced later.​