By KELLY HANNON
RICHMOND
--A severe money shortage has led the Virginia Department of Transportation to stand firm on plans to close rest areas around the state, including two on Interstate 95 in Ladysmith.VDOT Commissioner David Ekern has recommended closing 19 of the state's 42 rest areas as the agency cuts $600 million from its budget between 2009 and 2014.
Locally, two rest areas located on northbound and southbound I-95 in Caroline County will close if the Commonwealth Transportation Board approves Ekern's recommendations in June.
Ekern did make some modifications to his earlier savings plan. Truck drivers, Virginia's tourism industry and many government officials told VDOT at a series of 11 public hearings this spring that closing the parking, picnic and restroom pull-offs would have a negative effect on safety and the opportunity to pitch travel destinations to tourists.
Ekern took the advice, opting close 20, instead of 25, rest areas. Most are along Interstate 81, where there is heavy freight traffic. But Ekern also recommended keeping the trucks-only rest areas open on northbound and southbound I-95 in Dale City.
Also, VDOT will try to redistribute the 225 truck parking spaces lost at the 19 closing rest areas. For instance, VDOT would add 10 or more truck parking spaces at the Fredericksburg Welcome Center.
Ekern strove to keep a rest area open at a minimum of every 120 miles, he said.
"It was very evident that a 300-mile space was a little bit Draconian," Ekern told members of the Commonwealth Transportation Board in Richmond yesterday.
If approved by board members, the rest areas would be closed and barricaded July 1.
Ekern said he would continue to pursue a change in federal law that would let Virginia commercialize rest areas. If that doesn't work, VDOT will look into demolishing the closed rest areas beginning in 2011.
Board members had misgivings about the closings, but most ultimately said the budget left few options.
"I don't like cuts, but I don't see that we have a choice," said Commonwealth Transportation Board member E. Dana Dickens of Suffolk.
Virginia faces a $2.6 billion drop in transportation funding over the next six years. The traditional funding sources for transportation--gas taxes, auto sales, recordation and insurance premium taxes--will bring in less money than expected.
In February, the Commonwealth Transportation Board cut $2 billion in state funding for more than 800 road projects. VDOT's budget will be cut to make up the remaining $600 million.
Some state road projects will have funding restored through Virginia's $694 million in federal stimulus money, but in most instances, stimulus money cannot be used for operating costs, such as cutting grass along the side of the road.
Mowing is one service VDOT will cut to save money. If approved, VDOT will regularly cut a small strip along the road's right-of-way, but it could be as long as four years before an entire median on an interstate or primary road is shorn. VDOT districts will have the option to mow more frequently if they can find ways to adjust their budget, Ekern said.
Mowing less often will save $20 million a year. VDOT also will drop its $500,000 annual contribution to the wildflower program, which as one board member noted, would be less noticeable through the unmown grass. Virginia's wildflowers will still get about $100,000 each year through money raised by speciality license plates.
Closing the rest areas will save $9 million annually. Other annual savings will be raised by cutting back on ferries ($2 million), safety service patrols that help disabled motorists ($6.5 million) and reducing interstate maintenance ($8 million).
The biggest savings will come from cuts to VDOT offices and staff. Ekern estimated these cuts will save $391 million over six years.
Locally, Ekern recommends closing six VDOT equipment shops in the Fredericksburg district and two in the Culpeper district. VDOT residencies in Bowling Green, Culpeper and Louisa would close.
Finally, VDOT is reducing staff to 7,500 positions by next summer. Ekern hoped to reach the target through retirements and attrition, but he told board members yesterday that involuntary layoffs of several hundred individuals will be necessary.
The first round of employees will be notified in July, and the layoff would go into effect in October.
Mary Lee Carter, a former Spotsylvania supervisor who represents the Fredericksburg district on the board, said she is concerned about vandalism at the abandoned rest areas and how the shuttered restrooms will appear to tourists.
"That would look terrible for Virginia. Our state is a beautiful state," Carter said.
Board member James Davis of Staunton suggested finding another way to save $9 million and postponing the rest area closures for a year to convince the Virginia General Assembly to keep them open.
Stafford supervisor Cord Sterling, also a transportation board member, countered that following through with the closings may be the best way to get the General Assembly's attention.
"I've found nothing crystallizes their ability to make a decision so much as something that stares them right in the face," Sterling said.
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com