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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg Motorist safety will be reduced. (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=194727)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/New_Market_VA_Rest_Area_to_Close.jpgWayne Gerdes – CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) – Mar. 16, 2009

I-81 New Market Rest Area at mile marker 262– Open 24/7 and just one of twenty five to close.

Arlington, VA. -- Despite receiving $694.5 million for highway projects in the federal stimulus package, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is planning to close 25 of the state's 42 Interstate Highway Rest Areas.

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."

"It is beyond comprehension that Virginia would be willing to put lives at risk in order to balance the Commonwealth's budget," said Bill Graves, ATA President and CEO. "Rest areas are important for the safety of average motorists and professional truck drivers alike. Both need a safe location to park."

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."

Virginia's Rest Areas play a crucial role in preventing driver fatigue and providing accommodations necessary for all motorists to tend to personal needs while on the road. Closing rest areas would encourage drivers to make stops along the shoulders of the highways, a dangerous practice.

Map and listing of the proposed Rest Area closures (http://virginiadot.org/news/resources/Blueprint_meetings/2rest_areas_option2.pdf).

Awwww... that's really sad to see. I have fond memories of driving by the New Market and Mt. Sidney rest areas all the time as a kid. It was always a visual marker for me when going to or coming home from visiting my grandparents.

Oh another note, not only are the closings of these stations going to encourage stopping on the shoulder, but what's going to happen to the stations themselves? If they leave them sit, they're just going to be big eyesores down the road, and will probably be prone to break-ins for people looking to hide, whether it be just a simple homeless person or hitchhiker looking to get out of the weather or something more nefarious. If they just tear down the buildings, it's still going to look ugly with the roads just sitting there.

Jeremy

Awwww... that's really sad to see. I have fond memories of driving by the New Market and Mt. Sidney rest areas all the time as a kid. It was always a visual marker for me when going to or coming home from visiting my grandparents.

Oh another note, not only are the closings of these stations going to encourage stopping on the shoulder, but what's going to happen to the stations themselves? If they leave them sit, they're just going to be big eyesores down the road, and will probably be prone to break-ins for people looking to hide, whether it be just a simple homeless person or hitchhiker looking to get out of the weather or something more nefarious. If they just tear down the buildings, it's still going to look ugly with the roads just sitting there.

Jeremy

Maybe they will be sold for commercial use -- like McDonalds and gas stations and the like. That's better than a pile of vacant buildings.

A lot of them had fallen into some state of disrepair over the years. It wasn't until a few years ago that VA put money back into them to have all the toilets working. As far as their fate, I bet they will be torn down. That's what they did with the ones that were moved a number of years ago. Now there are blocked off exits that are overgrown with nothing there.

Hi All:

___This one was a very unusual write-up because it really is not our forte' but if there is one welcome sign on the Interstates in my crossings of the US, it is a Rest Area. I cannot tell you how many nights I have spent under a sleeping bag in a car while parked in a Rest Area in any number of states around the country over the last 20 + years. Without them, I would have been in a lot worse shape on the road than with them and I was saddened to hear that VA is moving in the direction to remove such a large percentage of them.

___Given there is some profit in the snack sales, I wonder how much each cost a states DOT on a yearly basis?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

___Given there is some profit in the snack sales, I wonder how much each cost a states DOT on a yearly basis?

I'm not entirely sure, but I think Missouri's aren't run by DOT.

I am pretty sure they are run by the Tourism Department, at least that's who works the counters there.

Some of the rest ares that are closing don't have snack machines. They're just bathrooms and water fountains. I think most people are going to pull off at a gas station or fast food place to have more choices for "nourishment".

I think it may be a "easy way to save money" for the commonwealth. No more upkeep, no more cleaning, no more stocking, no more utilities. The drawback is the future lack of a "safe place to rest" that is free.

However, I see it this way: should VA spend money on maintaining rest stops or maintaining roads? I think most people would choose the roads.

In many states they're called Safety Rest Areas, and for good reason. This will probably cost a few lives over the years.

Hi Dan:

___I am going to agree with that as well.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

A NY Truck driver was gunned down in a rest stop in South Carolina by a 23 y/o and two 21 y/o.

They reaped $7 :(.

Here's a small story about it.
http://www.thesunnews.com/575/story/811052.html

Do Wal-marts still allow RVers to park/camp for free?

Maybe they'll turn the Rest Areas into something better then? Offer putt-putt and burgers as well as parking.

There's a difference between "rest areas" and the facilities
that tend to cluster where secondary highways cross interstates.
There are still plenty of places to stop, many of which are
chock-full of trucks at night and fairly bustling with travel
traffic most other times, without being official Rest Areas.
They're a little less convenient, especially on a toll road but
for 95 and 81 we're not talking toll roads. The "knots of
civilization" as I call them are more likely to offer food,
fuel, lodging, etc just because they are comprised of commercial
enterprises, but that doesn't mean one cannot simply slot in
somewhere and snuggle into that sleeping bag in the parking
lot, either -- the truckers do it night after night. It just
feels a bit different than the rest areas.
.
Some rest areas in various states even have "no overnight parking"
signs to try and keep the trucks out, although that doesn't seem
to stop the occasional passenger-car snoozer [ahem]. But it sounds
like this move will a> reduce the number of places truckers can
take their mandatory breaks, and b> get people more used to getting
fully off the highway to look for any sort of facilities. It may
improve signage at the exits as to where things are and how far,
which I've found to be pretty sporadic and sometimes you get off
someplace that says "food/fuel" and drive for two more miles up
some completely dark road to find that whatever the place was is
closed after 11pm and nothing ever warned you.
.
_H*

hobbit brings up a point...

The rest areas were created at a time when there were many miles between pockets of civilization.

Civilization has spread out, negating the need for some (but not all) of these areas.

Perhaps you guys forgot this event in a non-rest stop parking area?

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/48_State_Attempt_run_over.JPG