In The News

Virginia plan to close I-81 rest stops focus of hearing

ROANOKE, Va. — A proposal to close Virginia rest areas along Interstate 81 was criticized as a potential safety hazard during a public hearing Tuesday evening.

The Virginia Department of Transportation gathering at Northside Middle School was the first of 11 public hearings around the state on cost-cutting measures to help address an anticipated $2.6 billion budget shortfall.

The agency is proposing to close 25 of the 41 rest stops in the state, including most along the 325 miles of Interstate 81 in Virginia. The department anticipates saving $12 million by closing the rest stops.

The I-81 stops remaining open would be at opposite ends of the state: one southbound in Winchester and separate areas for cars and trucks northbound near Bristol. Several speakers urged highway officials to consider keeping at least several others open or allow them to be operated by private enterprise.

Liniel Gregory of Fleetmaster Express Inc. said forcing truckers to get off the interstate to find places to stop would create chaos. Department officials have said there were numerous places truckers could park off the interstate at commercial facilities.

Del. Dave Nutter, R-Montgomery, said he’s been inundated with complaints from his constituents about the proposed closings.

“I’m very concerned about truck safety and public safety,” he said.

Closing the truck stops would work against a measure taken by the General Assembly at its recent session to add money to promote tourism in the state, Nutter said.

Charles Whiting urged Transportation Commissioner David Ekern to look at ways to operate the agency more efficiently rather than close rest stops and instead make other service cuts.

“There’s just unbelievable amounts of money being squandered,” he said.

The transportation department also would reduce the safety service patrols to help motorists who break down or run out of gas. It’s proposing less roadside maintenance, which would mean less frequent mowing, and would close 37 of its 73 maintenance shops, including nine in the Salem District.

Officials are planning for a $2.6 billion shortfall in transportation funding through 2014. Some $2 billion in construction projects have been trimmed, and the remaining $600 million would come from the service cuts and layoffs of about 1,500 workers by July 2010.

Ekern said any federal stimulus money will go toward restoring construction projects, and safety is another priority. Cuts in service would not be restored any time soon, he said.

“We need to look at this as a long-term correction,” Ekern said.

The proposal drew immediate complaints from trucking interests in Web site comments, who said the rest stops are needed as convenient layovers.

The rest stops were provided when the interstates were built beginning in the 1950s because there were no convenience stores available off the highways, Ekern said.

Department spokeswoman Heidi Coy said the agency counted twice as many parking spaces for truckers at truck stops, convenience stores and other commercial areas near the interstate than the state provides.

“Interstate 81 actually has more commercial facilities along it to make up the difference than any other interstate in Virginia,” she said.

Along I-81, Coy said, the state provides 208 parking spaces for trucks while there are 413 at commercial enterprises within a mile of the highway.

Nutter pointed out that the rest areas are needed by vehicles that are transporting patients and prisoners.

“They cannot easily pull into a Hardee’s,” he said.

Dorothy Cox of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected] .