State should rethink rest-stop closures, AAA says

The motor club AAA has added its voice to those opposing the state's plans to close some highway rest areas because of budget shortfalls.

AAA Mid-Atlantic said yesterday that the plans to mothball 18 Virginia rest areas this month and one welcome center in September would "compromise the safety of all motorists" by limiting options for fatigued drivers to stop and rest.

State officials plan to close 18 rest areas on Tuesday, and the I-66 West Welcome Center at Manassas on Sept. 16, to make up for recession-driven revenue shortfalls that led the Commonwealth Transportation Board to cut the state's six-year transportation program by $2.6 billion. Officials have said closing the rest stops should save about $8.6 million to help VDOT make ends meet this year. Twenty-three other rest areas across the state will remain open.

AAA Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman Martha M. Meade said the group, which has about 830,000 members in Virginia, has not proposed an alternative plan to the state to keep rest stops open and save money.

"Our call today to the state is to ask that they . . . get out that magnifying glass one last time and make absolutely sure that there are simply no other options," Meade said. "That is because this really is a safety issue. It also has an impact on tourism, and that is of concern to us at a time when revenue coming into the state is certainly very important."

Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Jeff Caldwell said the rest-area closures are just one of many cuts the agency must make because of revenue shortfalls, including laying off 1,000 partand full-time workers and cutting other services.

"None of these are pleasant decisions, and none of them we take lightly," he said. "But we have no choice but to address the significant funding shortfall."

He said the department has attempted to keep open rest areas at a maximum distance of about 120 miles so motorists will still be able to stop about every two hours.

Separately, state Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, said yesterday that he sent a letter to Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10th, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., requesting that they introduce an amendment to the federal transportation appropriations bill to suspend the federal law for one year that prohibits Virginia and other states from contracting with private restaurants or gas stations to operate at state-owned rest stops on interstate highways. Marshall said that would enable Virginia to reopen the closed rest stops as quickly as possible.

AAA said in a statement yesterday that the rest-area closings would put motorists at risk by, among other things, reducing the number of safe places to stop for a bathroom break. Rest areas provide free public toilets.

AAA also cited its own research indicating that 28 percent of drivers have reported nodding off or falling asleep while driving. It also cited other statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Board that driver fatigue results in 100,000 accidents and 1,500 deaths a year in the United States.

AAA also said that shutting down rest areas might turn the parking lots of gas stations, convenience stores and restaurants along the highways into outdoor toilets as more people stop at commercial areas to let their pets relieve themselves.

Contact John Reid Blackwell at (804) 775-8123 or @jblackwelltimesdispatch.com.