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New Texas rest areas near Van Horn seek to improve I-10 road trips, safety

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New Texas rest areas near Van Horn seek to improve I-10 road trips, safety

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Highway travelers crossing a long, lonely stretch of West Texas desert have a new spot on Interstate 10 to take a break with the opening of modern new rest stops outside of Van Horn.

The new Culberson County “safety rest areas” are on I-10, both east and west, nine miles east of Van Horn and will replace the old rest areas four miles outside of Van Horn, the Texas Department of Transportation said.

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The new 24-hour rest areas — which opened to the public on Saturday, June 1 — took into account location, design and amenities in an effort to entice drivers to stop and rest to help fight off road fatigue, TxDOT said in a news release.

“Driver fatigue is a major cause of serious traffic crashes across the state,” Brent Johnson, TxDOT roadside facilities section director, said in a statement.

Driver fatigue can be a challenge on the more than 500-mile drive across long stretches of desolate desert between El Paso and San Antonio.

Texas safety rest areas seek to improve road trips

New “safety rest areas” across Texas feature air-conditioned and heated restrooms, wireless internet, indoor exhibits, a tornado shelter, office space for law enforcement and enhanced security, including surveillance cameras, the state transportation department said.

There will be parking spaces for 58 commercial trucks and 27 cars at each of the Culberson County rest sites, which also has a shaded playground and walking paths, officials said. Visitors can stay up to 24 hours at a rest stop per state law.

The Culberson County Safety Rest Area will be similar to the Pecos County Safety Rest Area on I-10, which opened in 2018 located 26 miles west of Fort Stockton.

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The Culberson County safety rest areas “not only will help make for safer trips with state-of-the-art amenities, but also highlight the historical regional importance to everyone that stops by,” El Paso District Engineer Tomas Trevino said in a statement.

The facility has educational exhibits on the Guadalupe Mountains, the 1850s’ Butterfield Overland Mail Coach Trail and Blue Origin space travel rocket launches near Van Horn, Trevino said.

The Culberson County sites are the newest of 76 safety rest areas along the roads and highways of Texas, TxDOT said.

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