America - Keeping motorists safe and comfortable on road trips are just two of many reasons why state departments of transportation invest millions of dollars each year to build and maintain highway safety rest areas. Unfortunately, recent budget cuts and belt-tightening in many states have forced some safety rest areas to close.
In a new Two Minute State DOT Update video, Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski explains why he is among a growing number of state officials seeking to amend a 1956 federal law that bans the commercialization of public rest areas. He says the law does not give states the flexibility needed to adequately fund rest areas.
A recent survey by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) found that of the 35 states responding to a survey about rest areas, five states in addition to Arizona reported closing at least five rest areas recently: Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Maine, and Texas. The survey found that “in this period of diminishing budgets, state DOTs are facing numerous challenges in keeping rest areas in operation.
These challenges include large capital costs to replace buildings and parking lots that have passed their useful lives, providing security to deter criminal activity, and the high cost of replacing failed water and septic systems”. 80% of the responding states indicated they want to see federal law changed to allow more flexibility in leasing rest areas. Such leases could bring in revenue to cover the state’s cost of maintaining a rest area, or a private firm could take over all maintenance responsibilities in exchange for being able to lease state property along the interstates.
In 2009, Arizona closed 13 rest areas due to budget cuts and substantial costs associated with emergency snow removal following harsh winter storms.
“Essentially we had to make a choice last winter between plowing snow and keeping those rest areas operational – obviously we had to plow,” said Halikowski.
Source:http://news.transportation.org/press_release.aspx?Action=ViewNews&NewsID=333
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