Virginia's Closed Rest Areas: Making Travel Unpleasant and Unsafe

The recession has hit Virginia hard and the legislators are looking for anything anywhere to cut. Someone came up with the "brilliant" idea to close rest stops along the interstate highways to save money. The closings could save an estimated $9 million on building maintenance and an estimated $20 million on landscape maintenance, according to Washington, DC's ABC affiliate WJLA. While this may seem like a good idea to a politician, those of us with brains and bladders know this is a terrible idea. The issue is complex, but the bottom line is that Virginia politicians and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) are putting travelers' safety at risk and making traveling in Virginia much less appealing.

The plan to close rest areas has been in the works for several months. VDOT issued a press release on February 27, 2009 stating that it would hold eleven town meetings throughout the Commonwealth in March and April. They announced several money-saving measures including scaling back or delaying construction projects, laying off employees and reducing spending on VDOT programs and services. It is that last part that has people upset. The programs and services that have been cut include "motorist amenities and maintenance contracts for services not affecting driver safety," according to the press release. This includes less frequent landscape maintenance, reducing the motorist assistance patrols and most importantly to drivers, closing 19 out of 41 rest stops and welcome centers in the Commonwealth. That's 46 percent of the rest stops! The officials involved claim the moth balled rest stops are in areas that have plenty of gas stations and restaurants off the exits--the burger-and-a-bathroom theory. I drive extensively on all of these interstates and I am here to tell you that is absolutely not true in my experience.

Predictably, citizens, motorists groups like the American Automobile Association (AAA), and travelers are not happy about it. The VDOT planners were shooting for one rest stop every 120 miles, according to a Washington Post interview with Jeffery Caldwell, a VDOT spokesman. People driving along I-95, which runs north/south, now have a paltry four rest stops throughout the 155-mile span. Northbound drivers have a 94-mile stretch without a rest stop. The entire 77 miles of I-66 are now without a single rest stop. I-64, which runs east/west across central Virginia, lost one set of rest stops, leaving an 108-mile gap. All rest stops but the welcome center at the North Carolina border are closed on I-85, which is the route from Petersburg, VA to Durham, NC. The longest and inarguably most traveled interstate is I-81 which runs the full length of the Commonwealth in and around the Shenandoah Valley. Half of the interstate's fourteen rest stops are closed. Travelers going south from Winchester have a 125-mile drive between rest stops. Contrast these numbers to the New Jersey Turnpike that has rest stops about every 20 miles, or the Pennsylvania Turnpike which averages between 25 to 35 miles between rest stops.

In direct contradiction to VDOT's assertion that the closed rest stops are in areas that provide other bathroom and food opportunities, many of them actually are in rural areas bereft of any real alternatives. I-85, I-64, I-66, and I-95 all have significant stretches through rural areas. The options in these areas are very slim, usually mom-n-pop two-pump gas stations that don't always have bathrooms or food and close early. I-81 runs through mostly rural areas but since it is a major national trucking thoroughfare, there are plenty of fast food restaurants, gas stations and travel plazas. But that causes problems of a different nature to be addressed later. The few closed rest stops in urban areas are the same areas plagued by bumper-to-bumper traffic and now the long commutes are even more unpleasant due to a lack of bathroom facilities.

So in addition to the obvious problem of no bathrooms or food for long stretches, there is a real safety issue here. AAA Mid-Atlantic feels so strongly about it that they have written letters to elected officials, including Governor Tim Kaine, and the media, according to their website. They asked the governor to think about the 100,000 crashes each year caused by drowsy drivers and to realize that there will be far more drowsy drivers on Virginia's roads now that the rest stops are closed. While it may be possible to catch a quick nap in a McDonald's parking lot, it is unsafe and stupid to nap near a mom-n-pop gas station or anywhere else in the rural areas. So instead of being able to take a power nap, drivers will be drowsy or may resort to stimulants like large amounts of caffeine--or worse, and neither scenario is good. AAA Mid-Atlantic also pointed out the emerging trend to urinate in a bottle while driving. "Talk about distracted and dangerous driving, I would not want to share the road with an overtired driver who is trying to relieve themselves in a bottle while driving 65 miles per hour," said Martha M. Meade, Manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Pulling off the interstate for a passenger vehicle is no problem and neither is navigating the oasis of gas stations and fast food restaurants. However, this is not the case for tractor trailers. Many truck accidents occur on cloverleafs when the driver takes the turn too quickly and rolls the trailer over. If they maneuver through that first obstacle, the second is getting around on the narrow rural roads or crowded city streets not used to tractor trailer traffic. Either urban or rural, few fast food places can accommodate tractor trailers. Travel plazas are almost exclusively found along I-81, so drivers on other interstates face troubles. One positive for truckers is that the truck-only rest areas remain open. There are no bathroom facilities or vending machines, just a safe parking lot to park and sleep.

The numbskull idea to close rest stops to save $9 million is one of the worst Virginia legislators have come up with since the disastrous repealing of the car tax under then-Governor Jim Gilmore. With a deficit of $2.6 billion, $9 million is a drop in the bucket, not even close to 1%. Risking drivers' safety is not worth that paltry savings. The decrease in tourist dollars will further hurt the economy. Both gubernatorial candidates, Rep. Creigh Deeds (D) and Bob McDonnell, have promised to reopen the rest stops once they are elected. The insignificant savings, plus more, would then be squandered to revitalize the rest stops as they have been gutted. This is a lose-lose situation for everyone but the only people who see it as such as those of us out there on the roads every day.

Sources:

Bob Lewis, "Virginia Closing 19 Rest Areas, Laying Off Staff | ABC 7 News."

Jeffrey Caldwell, "VDOT Schedules Meetings to Discuss Proposed Service Changes." Virginia Department of Transportation.

Sue Lindsey, "Newsleader - Va. plan to close I-81 rest stops focus of hearing." The News Leader.

Ashley Halsey III, "Virginia Prepares to Close Highway Rest Areas - washingtonpost.com." The Washington Post.

Virginia Department of Transportation, "Safety Rest Areas and Welcome Centers." Virginia Department of Transportation.

Lon Anderson, "Cars & Driving Blog." AAA Mid-Atlantic "Cars & Driving Blog."

AAA Mid-Atlantic, "AAA Mid-Atlantic:: News Release." AAA Mid-Atlantic.