|
|
||
Could Virginia join Maryland and privatize rest areas? Date published: 3/29/2009
By KELLY HANNON Driving through Maryland on Interstate 95 recently, Mary Lee Carter of Spotsylvania County stopped at a rest area. There were restrooms, of course, but she was surprised to see restaurants, gas stations, tourism kiosks, a picnic area and vendors selling sunglasses. "It was wonderful," said Carter, a former Spotsylvania supervisor. "One stop certainly saves time on the road. It gives families an opportunity to have something to eat, something to drink, and to take care of the necessities," Carter said. Why don't we have this in Virginia? Carter wondered. The answer is federal law, and the prohibition is getting renewed attention in Virginia as budget cuts force One of the rest areas slated to close is in Caroline County on I-95. Since the news broke, numerous residents and elected officials have suggested that VDOT turn the rest areas into some form of public-private partnership, letting revenue from the sale of gas, food and drink pay to keep the rest areas open. But the barrier is not VDOT. It is Congress. VDOT has supported commercializing rest areas long before the current budget crunch. So far, VDOT has been unsuccessful at finding a way around the federal ban. Congress needs to change federal law or offer some form of special waiver for Virginia, given its budget difficulties, said Jeff Caldwell, VDOT spokesman. "That's in their purview, but it's something they have to decide," Caldwell said. Today, the only food and drink sold at Virginia rest areas comes from vending machines. That's the design of the Federal Highway Administration. Federal law prevents the public from being charged for goods or services at safety rest areas on the federal interstate system, although the law makes an exception for vending machines and telephones. Other states have gotten around the ban by locating commercialized rest areas on toll roads. Others were allowed to keep commercialized rest areas open because they existed before the federal ban was passed.
Date published: 3/29/2009
Gas is Cheap attracting millions from up North, we have no toll plaza's anymore (yet you go North & you pay $15 just to get to Philadelphia) and their gas cost more$$$. What do you think they spend the extra money on? You can't have it both ways... especially with a reduced prop tax on cars. Something has got to pay for this service. Increase the gas Tax by a penny.
that's about 45K per month... are more than $1000 dollars
per day...
surely we can find a middle ground on selling things to
folks to offset the costs.
this is a prime example of a service that people should pay
for rather than tax dollars providing it IMHO.
looking at the numbers, it appears than even a couple of
appropriately-stocked Kiosk/stands could make enough
profit to pay the $1000 a month.
why not...at the least... TRY one or two to see if it can work
before we go down one path or the other?
They were spending all that $$ building that palatial rest stop just nort of Rt 3 on the southbound side of 95, now here we are with them talking about shutting down rest areas for lack of funds. If only they had put away some of that money for a rainy day and made more concessions to function over fancy.
that preserve our gas tax dollars to be used for highways
and not amenities which should be paid for by the folks
who want them - including the truckers.
we're missing some important info here and that is how
much each rest area costs to operate.
If we knew that info - some folks may or may not decide
that it should be paid from our gas taxes or from user fees.
I think at the least - the costs would probably give us all
some pause because I suspect they are not cheap and
many out of state folks use them.
It's a highway, and I don't want any private rest stops. It seems to be the truckers mostly who stop and sleep at them. The one in Fredericksburg should be state owned, and never privatized.
It needs to be isolated from Central Park.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
