UPDATE: VDOT will reopen 19 rest areas by April 15

The Interstate 64 east rest area in Goochland County was among those closed.

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | Times-Dispatch
Published: January 20, 2010

The Virginia Department of Transportation will reopen 19 closed interstate rest areas by April 15.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board voted unanimously this afternoon to reopen the rest areas. VDOT officials said it would cost $3 million this fiscal year to reopen the rest areas, which were closed last year in a cost-cutting move as the state faced a budget shortfall.

Gov. Bob McDonnell pledged to reopen the rest areas during his gubernatorial campaign.

Virginia Department of Transportation staff have been working for days to come up with a plan to reopen the mothballed rest stops — and, crucially, find the money to do so. They’ll use $3 million from the department’s maintenance reserve funds, money it sets aside in case of harsh winters or worse-than-usual hurricane seasons, to reopen the stops and run them for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends in June.

Keeping the stops open for the next fiscal year could cost up to another $7.5 million, Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton said.

But, he added, he’s already started working on ways to cut that cost, including talking with the Department of Corrections about using nonviolent inmates to cut grass, pick up trash and do maintenance work at the stops.

In addition, he said the state is exploring public-private partnerships, including an “Adopt-a-Rest-Stop” version of the “Adopt-a-Highway” program in which volunteers help keep state roadsides free of litter.

And, Connaughton added “we’ll be asking contractors to sharpen their pencils” to bring down their fees for maintaining the stops.

The state will reopen four rest stops on Interstate 81 by Feb. 17 and another eight, including two in Dinwiddie County on Interstate 85, by March 17.

It will reopen the remaining seven by April 15, including two on Interstate 85 in Brunswick County, two on Interstate 64 in Goochland County and two on Interstate 95 in Caroline County.

The delay opening the last seven is mainly because of work that is needed on their waste-water systems, said Constance S. Sorrell, VDOT’s chief of systems operations.

AAA Mid-Atlantic applauded the decision, saying it was a victory for motorists, truckers, and traffic safety.

"We are pleased that common sense now prevails," said Martha M. Meade, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s manager of public and government affairs. "Now weary and drowsy motorists will have more safe havens along our busy interstate highway system across the commonwealth."