Virginia plans to reopen the 19 rest stops and welcome centers that the state had to close this summer due to budget cuts.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell made an announcement Wednesday that the rest areas would start reopening in mid-February, with all of them open by April 15.
In June, the Commonwealth Transportation Board voted to reduce the number of rest stops from 42 to 23, but the recent development reverses that decision. The recent vote was unanimous.
"The darkened rest stops presented an image of a Virginia 'closed for business,'" McDonnell said. "They left truckers and families without safe and secure areas at which they could get a break from the road, increasing the potential for accidents.
"I fully understand that this is a tough budget. Significant spending cuts must be made. But they must be made with a comprehensive review of the ramifications of each decision on our citizens."
The changes that were made this summer at the 23 remaining facilities, including new truck parking hours and additional 225 truck parking spaces, will remain intact.
The American Trucking Associations and the Virginia Trucking Association issued a statement, applauding McDonnell's move to reopen the rest areas.
"Closing these rest areas last year potentially decreased highway safety for both the motoring public and truck drivers alike," said Bill Graves, ATA president and CEO. "As a former governor, I understand the difficult budget challenges that Virginia faces, but I was deeply concerned that safety rest areas were the wrong place to cut funds." Graves was elected to two terms as governor of Kansas.
Virginia Department of Transportation will use $3 million from its maintenance reserve fund to operate the facilities through the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends June 30. Long-term funding for the rest areas will be identified as VDOT revises its maintenance budget this spring. The original plan to close the facilities was expected to save the state $9 million in 2010 and address its $2.6 billion revenue shortfall.
The state will continue to find ways to defray operation costs, including the development of an "Adopt a Rest Stop" program to permit private sector contributions. The Governor also plans to tap non-violent inmate work crews for maintenance, landscaping and repair of existing rest areas.
The rest areas with truck parking that will reopen 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
A map of the reopened rest areas is available at: http://www.virginiadot.org/news/resources/Statewide/repopen_Map_011510.pdf.
