A project to do away with the aging Government Camp highway rest area and replace it with a safer and more modern facility has taken a step closer to reality with federal funding to study and plan out a new site.

A planning grant of $715,000 has been awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation to a group of organizations that have a stake in developing the new rest area.

The current facility, which was built in the 1950s, is located on U.S Highway 26 near Government Camp. For travelers from Central Oregon, it’s the first place to access facilities in the Mount Hood area after the long drive from Warm Springs.

The federal funding request for the planning project was made by Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon. In their letter to the Department of Transportation, the rest stop was described as unsafe and congested.

The planning grant is to answer questions about where a new rest stop could be located and what facilities it may include. Construction wouldn’t begin for five to seven years. 

The current rest area is less than half an acre but gets 600,000 visitors a year. Stakeholders will also consider if two rest stops should be built, one on each side of the highway, so that there will be no need for vehicles to cross traffic to reach a rest area.