(Host) The future of Vermont’s interstate rest areas will be studied in the coming months.
As VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports, some older areas could be closed and plans for a new welcome center in Bennington could be postponed indefinitely.
(Kinzel) Four of the state’s 20 rest areas have been or are in the process of being closed. 3 are on interstate 89; the Highgate Welcome Center near the Canadian border, Sharon south and Randolph north. The fourth area is Hartford north on interstate 91.
Buildings and General Services commissioner Jerry Myers says the review is needed because the General Fund pays $4.2 million a year to operate the system:
(Myers) "It’s a matter of there’s no way any additional cuts are not going to affect services so we’re just trying to fund a way that would minimize the impact of not providing the services…and how you buttress that against losing a program in health services because it really all comes from the same pot the taxpayer. Those are the kinds of things that we’re trying to get out there and make people understand."
Myers says the Douglas Administration is looking at an approach that’s used in several other states. It calls for the state to help build restrooms at a gas station or convenience store that’s located near an interstate exit:
(Myers) "Could they add 3 or 4 bathrooms – allow the state to make maybe some kind of investment to their facility which could provide the same services that’s provided in our rest areas. There’s a school of thought out there that those types of facilities in some cases could be better for the economy because you’re going to get visitors off the interstate and they’re spending money."
House Transportation committee chairman Rich Westman agrees that it’s time to review the entire rest area system because of the burden on the General Fund and because money from the state’s Capital Fund is needed to repair aging centers.
Westman says the state also needs to rethink a decision to spend 6 million dollars to build a new welcome center in Bennington:
(Westman) "In a time when you’re trying to make decisions about bridges that are structurally deficient, road surfaces that are bad maintaining Amtrak service in places like Rutland not giving any money to towns for property taxes where are we – so I think it’s probably an appropriate time for that discussion about rest areas to come up again."
Westman says his committee wants to carefully review the details of the federal stimulus bill before making any decisions about the future of the rest areas. That bill is expected to allocate 130 million dollars over the next 2 years to a variety of transportation projects in Vermont.
For VPR News, I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier.