By KELLY HANNON
If selling coffee, doughnuts and ice cream can keep rest areas open in Virginia, Mary Berry is all for it.
"I think it's an excellent idea," Berry said.
A former tourism counselor at the Potomac Gateway Welcome Center on U.S. 301 in King George, Berry said visitors constantly approached her to ask where they could buy hot drinks or Virginia souvenirs.
Berry doesn't support building gas stations and restaurants at state rest areas, but thinks indoor kiosks would be OK.
Besides, the King George center "already has a lovely picnic area," Berry said.
Unfortunately, the King George center closed last year, due to cuts in the state tourism budget.
Quite a few Fredericksburg area residents are worried the same fate could befall 25 of Virginia's 41 rest areas operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Last night, nearly 75 people filed into an auditorium in Caroline County's community services center to comment on VDOT's plans to scale back as it faces a $600 million budget cut from 2009 to 2014.
VDOT services and facilities were repeatedly praised as indispensable by residents and elected officials, whether it was clearing ice and snow, mowing tall grass or reviewing site permits.
But keeping the rest areas open seemed to be the most common plea.
David Ogle, retired VDOT Fredericksburg District Administrator, even came out to speak.
Ogle said closing rest areas will eliminate parking spaces for tired truck drivers.
"We're going to have more and more trucks parked on the shoulders and the ramps. That presents a hazard, from my perspective," said Ogle, who retired last fall after 40 years at VDOT.
Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, first laid blame for VDOT's funding shortfall with the Virginia General Assembly, pointing out the gasoline tax in the state has not been altered since 1986.
Houck told the crowd that the state--and the public--gets what it pays for regarding road services.
"There's no magic to it. It doesn't fall out of the sky. It comes out of each and every one of our pockets," Houck said.
But the senator said he would not want anyone, including his wife or grandchildren, turning off an unfamiliar secondary road at night to find a restroom.
"I want them to pull up in that rest area and have it lit and safe," Houck said.
VDOT Commissioner David Ekern laid out a bleak budget picture before comments began.
Virginia has $2.6 billion less to spend on transportation over the next six years.
Funding has shrunk because sources of transportation revenue are down: motor vehicle sales, gas taxes, vehicle license fees and recordation taxes.
New road construction has already been cut by $2 billion. Now VDOT has to eliminate the remaining $600 million from the agency budget. "None of the choices we're considering are easy," Ekern said.
Staff cuts are part of the savings. VDOT is letting 450 temporary and wage workers go this spring, and by next summer it will reduce the agency's work force from 8,400 to 7,500 full-time positions.
VDOT would save $12 million a year by closing 25 rest areas, including the Ladysmith rest area in Caroline County.
VDOT would cut back on ferry service, mow the grass in interstate medians less frequently and close several area residencies.
VDOT has proposed closing the Bowling Green residency in Caroline, and relocating the work to a VDOT office in south Stafford. Residencies handle much of the day-to-day administrative work, such as human resources and payroll. But they also handle site permits on development projects, and work with local government staff.
Bowling Green Mayor David Storke opposed the residency closure, a sentiment echoed by several members of the Caroline Board of Supervisors.
"Growth is coming to Caroline County and Bowling Green and we ask that Bowling Green not be lumped in with other rural counties," Storke said.
If VDOT does choose to close the Ladysmith rest area, Caroline County wants it demolished, said Board
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com