News and Events
- Traveler Comments - submit your comments and questions.
- Report Items Lost and Found at a WI Rest Area
- Rest Area Maintenance Hall of Fame
- Featured Service Provider
- Ship Rock - Points of View in Wisconsin
- WisDOT Announces WI Seasonal Wayside Opening Date
- WisDOT Permanently Closes Genoa City Rest Area Located on USH 12
- Sticky, Purple Traps for EAB Survey
- Distribute Your Tourism Guides and Brochures at WI Rest Areas
- Travel Planner Guide
- RV Dump Stations
- Camping Policy at Wisconsin Roadside Facilities
- Geocaching at Wisconsin Roadside Facilities
- Long Term Parking at Wisconsin Rest Areas
- Service Animals at Wisconsin Rest Areas
- Non-Service Animals at Wisconsin Rest Areas
- RAM Service Providers Only Section
Traveler Comments
Tell Us About Your Rest Area Visit
WE NEED YOUR HELP in continuing to meet your rest area needs. Please take a few seconds to give us your impressions. Download a Visitor's Comment Form VISITOR COMMENT FORM (pdf) and tell us about your rest area experience. Thank you and enjoy your travels!
Note: Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to open the Visitor Comment Form. This software can be downloaded for free at the following link: Download Adobe Acrobat Reader
Kenosha County Welcome Center - Click on photo to learn more about this site
"This is one of the best rest areas! We travel a lot and I really appreciate this facility." - April 2008
Marquette County SB Rest Area - Click on photo to learn more about this site
"Extremely clean and very pleasant. Thanks." - April 2008
Marquette County NB Rest Area - Click on photo to learn more about this site
"Can't say enough about how nice it is to come to a clean, well-kept facility during a long road trip. This certainly helps make our trip more enjoyable. This stop is fantastically clean! Thank you!" - April 2008
Rock County Welcome Center - Click on photo to learn more about this site
"This is one of the best rest areas we have encountered on our trip from Alabama to Madison, Wisconsin." - March 2008
Walworth County SB Rest Area - Click on photo to learn more about this site
"I travel from Rockford, Il to Milwaukee, WI and back at least once a month. I appreciate the clean, safe well-stocked rest stops you maintain. Good Job!" - March 2008
Report Items LOST at a WI Rest Area
If you found an item or think you may have lost an item while stopping at a rest area, contact us at rfw@rfw.org or call 608-244-5310
Check out our new FEATURED SERVICE PROVIDER
The RAM Featured Service Provider recognizes a Wisconsin Rest Area Maintenance service provider who is doing an exceptional job. The recognition is primarily acknowledged through RFW site inspections, from comment cards or letters of visitors stopping at the sites, or from comments received from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation staff in 2007. The RFW staff would like to recognize the outstanding efforts of Chippewa River Industries in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. To read about Chippewa River Industries, go to RAM Featured Service Provider.
Points of View in Wisconsin
Click on the photo to see one of the many RAM sites featured through photos. Find out about its location and interesting facets. You may want to visit the next time you are in the area.
WisDOT Announces Seasonal Wayside Opening Date
All seasonal waysides shall be open to the public no later than Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
WisDOT Permanently Closes Genoa City Rest Area Located on USH 12
Last Fall, the Department of Tourism announced that they were not returning this spring to provide travel information services to the Genoa City Welcome Center located WB on USH 12 in Walworth County. The
Wisconsin Department of Transportation then made the decision to close the rest area permanently on April 15, 2008. The decision was made on the rest area having a low volume use and a very high cost per user. We regret the loss
to people who used and enjoyed the facility.
Rest Area History
Joanna Hofmann-Dowling, a former graduate student at the Art Institute of Chicago, researched rest areas as part of her Master's Thesis. She gave a presentation at the 2006 Rest Area Conference in Minneapolis.
http://www.restareahistory.org/Home_Page.html
Sticky, Purple Traps for EAB Survey
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) will continue looking for signs of the emerald ash borer this spring and summer by deploying approximately 3,600 purple, sticky traps in ash trees across the state. This "purple trap survey" for emerald ash borer (EAB) is part of a nationwide effort paid for by the US Department of Agriculture. Portions of 46 states will be included in the survey, using approximately 60,000 traps.
The purple traps will be hung from ash trees by hooks, out of the reach of pedestrians or passers-by. The three-sided trap is about two feet tall and little more than a foot wide on each side. Each one is coated with a sticky substance that will ensnare the adult beetle. A Manuka oil lure will also be hung within each trap, to help draw nearby beetles to the tree.
Approximately three-fourths of the traps in Wisconsin will be placed in a grid pattern in 19 southern and southeastern counties, including all or parts of Kenosha, Racine, Walworth, Rock, Green, Lafayette, Grant, Iowa, Dane, Jefferson, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Dodge, Columbia, Sauk, Fond du Lac, and Sheboygan.
Go to http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/press_release/result.jsp?prid=2163 to view DATCP's Press Release
Travel Planner Guide
For information about road conditions and construction projects around the state and how they might impact your travel plans, visit the following links:
- Current Construction: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/road/workzones.htm
- Current Road Conditions: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/road/winter-roads.htm
- Freeway Exit Numbers: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/road/exits.htm
- Incident Alerts: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/incident-alerts.htm
- Tourism Information: http://www.travelwisconsin.com/
- Travel Green Wisconsin: http://www.travelgreenwisconsin.com/consumer/index.htm
- Truck Operator Map: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/maps/truck-routes.htm
- WI County Maps: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/maps/county.htm/
- Work Zone Map: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/traveleasy/docs/state-map.pdf
Wisconsin RV Dump Stations
For information regarding Wisconsin RV Dump Stations, go to RV Dump Stations. They are listed first by locations easily accessed from Interstate highways followed by those in other locations throughout the state.
Rest Area Policies:
Camping Policy at Wisconsin Roadside Facilities
Roadside sites are provided for the safety, comfort, convenience and enjoyment of the traveling public. Activities which are not safety related are not compatible with the intended use of the roadside facility. Wisconsin Department of Transportation policy prohibits camping by any person on public highways or adjacent lands. This policy is supported by the following Wisconsin Statute.
Wisconsin Statutes 86.025, Camping on highways. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to camp in wagons, tent or otherwise on the public highways or lands adjacent thereto, after a notice to remove there from by the owners of such adjacent lands, or the owner of land abutting on the highway, or by a member of the board of supervisors or any trustee of any town or village where such camping place is made. Any person or persons violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding $10, or imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding 30 days, or both.
Geocaching at Wisconsin Roadside Facilities
Geocaching at Wisconsin Department of Transportation Roadside
Facilities is not permitted at Department roadside facilities.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation Policy:
"The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has reviewed geocaching activity information in March 2005 and has indicated that it will not be allowed at Department roadside facilities. This is something that the Department cannot allow at rest areas, Wisconsin Welcome Center's, or even at their waysides for reasons of liability/safety. They do not wish to open the door to other activities such as paintball, regular sports activities/leagues, ultimate frisbee, etc. all of which present problems. They will not allow any of this type of activity at any of their roadside facilities. Any geocaching activity that has already been initiated should be terminated. The Department has no problem with this "geocaching" activity in and of itself - it just doesn't belong in the Department's roadside facilities."
Long Term Parking at Wisconsin Rest Areas
Roadside sites are provided for the safety, comfort, convenience and enjoyment of the traveling public. Long term parking at highway rest areas is not allowed, as it is not consistent with the purpose and design of the facilities and can cause problems relative to the use and maintenance of the site.
Long term would be considered as vehicles parked at a roadside site for more than a 24-hour continuous period, occupied or not. If a vehicle is parked at a roadside facility for more than this time period, it will be reported to the State Patrol and the procedure for removal will begin.
Service Animals at WI Rest Areas
Wisconsin Act 354 - A person with disabilities or a service animal trainer who is accompanied by a service animal is permitted to accompany the person with a disability or the service animal trainer to all areas of the public place that are open to the general public. This would include restrooms, vending area and any information available inside the facility
Non-Service Animals at WI Rest Areas
All animals other than service animals whether in transport cages or not, may not be allowed into the rest area building. Non-service animals are to be confined either in the owner's vehicle or may use the pet walk area when accompanied by the owner. All animals are to be on a leash while on the rest area premises.
RAM Service Provider Member's Only Area
A portion of this website is reserved for information pertaining specifically to Wisconsin Rest Area Maintenance Program and SWEFM service providers. The RAM Service Providers Only area contains helpful resources, news, and happenings that impact RAM employees. Included in the RAM Service Providers Only area is the RAM & SWEFM Program Manuals and RAM Training Resources, including the Training Manual and many other useful training tools. Topics include the following:
- RAM Committee Information
- Nuts and Bolts Newsletters
- RAMping Up
- RAMifications
- RAM Program Training Manual & Resources
- RAM & SWEFM Program Manuals
- Seasonal Wayside Resources
- SWEFM Program Resources
- Latest RAM and SWEFM Best Practices and Updates
Go to the RAM Service Providers Only Section to check it out today! You will need a user name and password to access this section. If you are a RAM Service Provider and do not know your user name and password, contact Susan Davis (sdavis@rfw.org).
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