Two I-25 rest stops not the best stops

Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 20, 2007 at midnight

Text size

More Colorado Government

A Colorado lawmaker who wanted to know why two rest stops along Interstate 25 were closed was surprised and amused by the answer:

Sex, drugs and lots of graffiti.

It turns out that the north- and southbound rest stops between Castle Rock and Monument were handy for quickie trysts and vandals.

A meth manufacturer even got rid of his trash there, sickening a Colorado Department of Transportation maintenance worker who picked it up, said CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman.

Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, had inquired about the closures.

He said he was told female prostitutes solicited male customers at one rest stop, while gay men hung out at the other.

"We call that choice," McElhany joked Friday.

But Stegman said she doesn't believe one type of sexual activity took place at one stop, and another type at the other. But she said the sexual encounters did take place.

Other states with rest stops between major cities report the same problems with loiterers and littering, she said.

The rest stops were closed last November and repainted and repaired. Security cameras were installed. And trees and underbrush were cleared out, so the rest stops were less secluded.

One rest stop reopened last month, and another this month, Stegman said.

Now, both the Colorado State Patrol and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office regularly patrol.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News