Keep the Rest Stops Awake

I'm on vacation in Duck, NC this week. We'll be packing up and heading back to Fairfax on Sunday. When we do, we will drive along I-64 and I-95 and see, just as we did heading down, signs of a down economy: closed rest stops in Virginia.

What we're also seeing is a failure to invest in our transportation system. Not pointing fingers, all of those responsible for providing resources for state roads are to blame. It's a state responsibility.

As this editorial in the Washington Post notes, when we close rest stops to save a couple million bucks, we are truly at a point of desperation.Not only does it look bad, create safety issues for weary drivers, cause headaches for cranky parents and kids who have to go, but closing the rest stops is a bad idea. It sends the wrong signal that we're giving up.

I mean the state is saving a whopping $9 million by closing the rest stops. Are you kidding me? We can't find $9 million in the state budget? This is causing major PR problems, too, for the state as it is seen as nibbling around the edges and not addressing the real problem: lack of adequate funding and an antiquated funding formula based on a 1930s-era law.

I say let's reopen the rest stops and take the money from somewhere else in the budget. Maybe we don't have wildflowers on the highway or we increase the price of a soda or maybe we have a collection taken at the rest stops, similar to what some parks do in addition to charging a fee. I'm sure that parents like me would happily drop a buck in a bucket.

Providing a solid transportation system means having rest stops along the public's roads. We shouldn't require people to buy a Big Mac to use a bathroom, which is what was suggested by VDOT when they said people could go to a restaurant. No, they can't. Those are private businesses. They are not required by law to open up their bathrooms. In fact, many businesses require customers purchase something to get the key to their bathroom. Is that where we want to be as a state, forcing people to buy food or other knick-knacks so they can then stand in line to use the bathroom? I think not. Re-open the rest stops.