The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (SHA) is expanding the number of parking spaces for tractor-trailers and large vehicles at the Interstate 70 (Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway) South Mountain Welcome Center near Myersville, Frederick County. Myersville is located about halfway between Hagerstown and Frederick south of the Pennsylvania border.
The project will add a total of 25 new parking spaces: 15 spaces, including four parallel spaces, on the eastbound I-70 rest area and 10 new spaces, including five parallel spaces, on the westbound I-70 rest area.
Currently, the South Mountain Welcome Center’s truck rest areas on eastbound and westbound I-70 have a combined 49 spaces. That number will increase more than 50% to 74 spaces when this project is completed at the end of 2025, weather permitting.
The project will construct the pavement using pervious concrete, allowing rainwater and other runoff to filter through it into subsurface drains. The permeable pavement provides a safer driving surface and better area drainage.
The Maryland Department of Transportation conducted a review of its facilities statewide in 2020. The results found the I-70 South Mountain Welcome Center has the highest proportion of trucks parked more than eight hours in Maryland and is often at capacity in the truck rest areas.
