Tourism, trucking officials push to keep rest stops open

Closing 25 Virginia interstate highway rest stops would be penny-wise and pound-foolish, speakers told state transportation officials in Richmond last night.

The harm that the barricaded rest areas will inflict on the state's tourist industry and highway safety far outweighs the $12 million in annual savings that closing the rest stops would yield, speakers said.

"It puts a negative billboard out there to millions of travelers," said Owen Matthews of Beaverdam, who is Kings Dominion amusement park's finance director. "It looks like we're closed for business."

And, said Sam Tittle with Cox Transportation Services Inc. of Ashland, "the cost of not keeping them operating will be an increase in injuries and deaths."

About 80 travel and trucking industry representatives, local officials, state employees and contractors, and area residents attended the meeting in Richmond on proposed cuts in Virginia Department of Transportation highway services.

This year, VDOT has seen its planned revenues for the next six years melt away by $2.6 billion.

The state highway agency is trying to make up some of that shortfall by closing the rest stops, cutting ferry operating hours, scaling back service patrols, paring back local offices and shops, and reducing roadside mowing and maintenance.

"I have to live in today's world," said state Transportation Commissioner David S. Ekern, "and in today's world I've got to find $50 million" in service reductions.

The Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, which represents the tourist-travel industry, argued that rest areas are more than just stops in Virginia.

"They provide marketing for businesses, help generate funds for Virginia's roads, and promote a friendly, welcoming image of Virginia across the country," the group said in a statement.

For safety's sake, speakers said, truckers need public rest areas to be able to park and sleep in their tractor-trailers.

According to VDOT, commercial locations within a mile of Virginia's interstate interchanges provide 5,214 truck parking spaces statewide. Closing the 25 rest areas would eliminate 412 truck parking spaces in the state, the department said.

In the Richmond District, VDOT has called for closing the Goochland rest areas on Interstate 64, as well as the Dinwiddie and Alberta rest stops on Interstate 85.

Federal law forbids privatizing interstate highway rest areas.

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or .