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Convenience stores along I-95 have seen a rise in foot traffic since the state closed rest areas.
Southbound traffic (top) on I-95 passes the rest area in Caroline County. It is among 18 rest areas the state has closed so far. |
By KELLY HANNON
Virginia used to pay for soap, toilet paper and water at the rest areas on Interstate 95 in Ladysmith.
Since the rest areas closed on July 21, private business owners like Assadi Moghadam have been footing the bill.
Moghadam's Friendly Mart gas station and convenience store at Thornburg is 10 miles from the shuttered rest areas, just off I-95. His station has clean, air-conditioned restrooms. Suddenly, in late July, his bathroom became one of the most popular items in the store.
"My water bill is much higher," Moghadam said.
He's also stocking up on toilet paper and paper towels more frequently.
"They finish it faster," he said.
Friendly Mart has not seen an equal increase in sales of gasoline, drinks, snacks, lottery tickets or cigarettes to defray the cost of substituting for rest areas. But Moghadam allows everyone to use the restroom, whether or not they buy anything.
He feels badly they have to leave the interstate and hunt for a place to go in an unfamiliar area.
"I'm concerned for the traveler," he said.
Businesses clustered around
The Commonwealth Transportation Board voted in June to close some rest areas to help trim $600 million from VDOT's budget over the next six years. Virginia expects to raise at least $2.6 billion less for transportation during that time, since the state is collecting less money through income streams like new vehicle sales, auto insurance premiums, gasoline taxes and home sales.
VDOT is also laying off staff, consolidating administrative offices and scaling back on ferry service and median mowing.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board faced intense pressure to keep all the rest areas open, but voted to close a percentage because the few dollars that remain must be spent on the physical roads where everyone must travel, said Cord Sterling, a Stafford supervisor on the transportation board.
Drivers can choose to stop, he reasoned, but no one has a choice when a dangerous pothole develops in a highway travel lane. "When it comes to our road network, the roads are our highest priority--they are the skeleton, the muscle, the organs of the system," Sterling said in an e-mail. "The rest areas are certainly nice to have. They are helpful. They play an important role. But they are not critical because there are alternative options. There are not alternative options to the actual roads."
Orange barrels barricade the entrances to the Ladysmith rest areas at mile marker 108. A similar sight can be seen at Dale City, north of Stafford.
The closures leave the Fredericksburg Welcome Center near the Rappahannock River Bridge as the only rest area open for passenger vehicles between the Maryland-Virginia border and Richmond on I-95.
Not everyone used the rest areas for the restrooms. People pulled over to eat, sleep or take dogs for a walk.
Some of that activity has shifted to the parking lot at the Caroline County Visitor Center, which has public restrooms and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week at Exit 104.
For the first time ever, staff noticed families having picnics in the parking lot, said Kathy Beard, Caroline's tour- ism manager.
The tourism center installed picnic benches inside to accommodate the travelers, where staff can keep an eye on trash. Employees regularly go out to the parking lot and invite travelers to use them, Beard said.
The center has enjoyed hosting people, and staffers have a chance to promote various tourism attractions and answer questions. Increasingly, tourists want to know how far they'll have to drive before they encounter another rest area, she said.
Restroom traffic has stayed level, she said.
Center employees have seen a few travelers taking naps in their cars while they were parked in their lot. "We have not ever had that before," Beard said. Staff did not disturb the individuals, who moved on.
At Thornburg--where people driving north are perhaps holding on for the next rest area only to find it closed--the demand for restrooms remains high.
"We always get complimented that we have the cleanest bathroom of any location around here," said Debera Beasley, manager at Thornburg Citgo, another gas station yards away from Exit 118's off-ramps. The store has seen an influx of people who stop with a particular purpose in mind.
"Most of them when they walk in the door you see that expression on their face, and you know, and you go, 'Restroom, right here.' You know as soon as they walk in what they're looking for. And most of them are really polite about it," Beasley said.
Although visitors are happy with her restroom, they are unhappy about the rest area closings, Beasley said.
"Customers are complaining and fussing and no one seems to understand how the government or state is actually saving money by closing them, and what the benefit is," Beasley said. She thinks the state should reopen them, since most visitors are from out of the area and are surprised by the closings. The Citgo station's utility bill may be higher from the extra bathroom use, and more staff time will be devoted to cleaning it.
Then again, the hospitality could translate into more sales, she said. "Maybe we'll make them a loyal customer that will stop for other things," Beasley said.
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com
