Residents are advocating for the closure of two 50-year-old rest areas that are popular with truckers along Interstate 4 because they say the locations of the stops ‘just aren’t working’ for them anymore.

The Seminole County, Florida Board of Commissioners requested on Tuesday, November 14th that a resolution urging the Florida Department of Transportation to shut down the two rest stops be completed and filed. If approved, this would allow for the two 50 year old rest stops, located near State Road 434 in Longwood, Florida to be shut down for good.

According to Fox 35 Orlando, the rest stops were built in 1969 and renovated to their present layout in the 1980s. Since then, the area around the stops has morphed in an “urban area” whose residents are now complaining about the “sound and smell” the big rigs bring to the area.

“An urban area has grown up around the rest stops and there simply isn’t room there to meet the still growing truck traffic needs,” said commissioner John Horan.

The rest areas often become overcrowded with semi trucks in the evenings, forcing truckers to park on the shoulder of the highway and off ramp.

A similar request was submitted to the FDOT last year, but FDOT refused to shut down the current stops until a viable alternative was reached. A suitable alternative has not yet been found, but Horan says that Seminole County is pushing for more truck stops in the Orlando area, as well as staging spaces for deliveries in Orange and Seminole counties.

“There are feasibility studies going on in the state right now to create better support for truckers and more resources for them along the state’s highways,” said Horan.

“The Longwood stops simply just aren’t it.”

Officials are still working to determine what to do about the aging truck stops.