The Virginia Department of Transportation has altered its plan to close 25 of the state's 42 rest stops and now expects to close 19 to address concerns about truck parking and minimize travel distance between facilities.
If approved, the total number of rest areas would be reduced to 23 from 42.

Under the new plan, the state would also add truck parking spaces at the remaining sites to make up for the 225 being lost at the closed sites. It would remove the current two-hour parking restriction in favor of a no-overnight-parking one, and maintain a distance of 120 miles between sites. The changes would take effect in July.

The original plan would have saved the state $12 million, while the new proposal is expected to save $9 million for the fiscal year 2010. Virginia received $694.5 million for highway projects in federal stimulus.

The rest areas slated to close are those that transportation officials found to be near other restaurants and hotels, according to ABC 7 News. The state plans to keep the two truck-only stops on I-95 in northern Virginia.

Rest stops with truck parking that will close include:
Goochland east- and west-bound on I-64
Manassas east- and west-bound on I-66
Radford, I-81 northbound
Mt. Sidney, I-81 north- and south-bound
Smyth, I-81 southbound
Troutville, I-81 southbound
New Market, I-81 southbound
Alberta, I-85 north- and south-bound
Dinwiddle, I-85 north- and south-bound
Ladysmith, I-95 north- and south-bound

Transportation Commissioner David Ekern also outlined proposed cuts by reducing supervisory layers and decreasing its workforce to 7,500 by July 2010.


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