Despite receiving $694.5 million for highway projects in the federal stimulus package, the Virginia Department of Transportation is planning to close 25 of the state's 41 Interstate highway rest areas.
The move poses a significant safety risk to motorists, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves said.

Transportation officials chose the rest stops facing closure by looking at age, condition, local contributions and the amount of traffic received, reports The Washington Times. State officials say they have identified rest areas for possible closure that are located in urban areas or on urban fringes with nearby commercial services. Officials note that when the interstate system was built, most of the rest areas were out in rural areas, where there were no other options to use restrooms or to get a snack.

"It is simply beyond comprehension that Virginia would be willing to put lives at risk in order to balance the Commonwealth's budget," Graves said in a recent letter to Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. Rest areas are important for the safety of average motorists and professional truck drivers alike. Both need a safe location to park, said Graves, who served for eight years as governor of Kansas.
 
"As a former governor, I can appreciate the difficult choices you have to make during these tough economic times," Graves wrote. But, even before the rest area closings, VDOT had publicly recognized that Virginia is "deficient in providing adequate parking for commercial vehicles, especially along the I-95 and I-81 corridors."
 
VDOT's Statewide Safety Rest Area and Welcome Center Master Plan Draft states that "the presence of safety rest areas has a direct correlation to a reduction in the number of shoulder stop and driver fatigue related accidents."
 
Virginia's rest areas play a critical role in preventing driver fatigue and also provide the accommodations necessary for motorists to tend to personal needs while on the road, ATA notes. Closing rest areas would encourage drivers to make stops along the shoulders of the highways, a dangerous practice. Last week a man was struck and killed on the shoulder of I-95 in Maryland when he stopped to switch drivers.
 
Removing safety rest stations hinders truck drivers' ability to meet federal Hours of Service regulations and causes unsafe situations for all motorists on the road, ATA said in a press release. The association also noted that eliminating nearly all of Virginia's rest areas in major truck corridors along I-81 and I-95 may also have a negative effect on the movement of consumer goods as motor carriers find alternative routes with better accommodations.
 
"Gov. Kaine, the trucking industry today has the lowest fatality rate since records began being kept in 1975. This achievement was possible only through a cooperative relationship between the trucking industry and our public sector partners. It would be a shame to squander these hard-won gains due to a temporary lack of resources," Graves wrote.

In a public hearing last week, according to published reports, Virginia DOT officials said there are far more parking spaces for truckers at truckstops, convenience stores and other commercial areas near the interstate than the state provides. Along I-81, an officials said, the state provides 208 parking spaces for trucks, while there are 413 at commercial enterprises within a mile of the highway, reported the Associated Press.

You can download a PDF-format map of the planned closures here.

The state is in the midst of a series of public hearings on these and other cost-cutting measures. Citizens may also submit comments via e-mail to vdotinfo@vdot.virginia.gov by April 15, 2009.