Give rest-stops idea a look

Amid the huff into which state Sen. Mark Obenshain has worked himself over plans to, among other things, close most of the 41 rest areas on Interstate 81, an idea has sprung: Why not privatize those spots? To which we say, why not?

State Department of Transportation officials initially stirred the ire of Obenshain, a Harrisonburg Republican who consistently has been among Richmond’s strongest conservative voices, by proposing the closure of 25 of the rest stops, netting a savings of $12 million. Saving money is a thing Obenshain supports with regularity. Not so this time, because I-81 happens to cut a swath through his district.

Of course, there’s the safety factor. Obenshain points out that VDOT estimates say rest areas clip the number of interstate crashes by 4 percent. Nonetheless, Obenshain complains in a statement, heartless bureaucrats fail to take such chilling arithmetic “into account when calculating the supposed savings of closing 25 rest areas.”

Well, there are other figures to be considered, starting with the absence of $2.6 billion needed to close VDOT’s budget gap through 2014. Obenshain hears this and responds that there are other ways to snip spending, and an independent audit of the agency, for which he and Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, have called might offer guidance.

On this, the senator and Gilbert have a point. The same applies to their worries that VDOT will slash spending on maintenance and snow removal on rural roads, of which there are a few on this side of the state. Anyone who drove along the Valley’s sundry byways during winter blasts last month and earlier this winter knows the state is not investing heavily in clearing snow from rural roads. And Obenshain and Gilbert know that without lawmakers like them, the inclination of Richmond will be to turn a blind eye to rural districts.

So by all means, we say, proceed with a thorough independent review of VDOT spending. Departments of transportation traditionally are vast reservoirs of waste. If such is true of VDOT, then the frivolities need to be rooted out and cast to the trash bin – along with the careers of any who knowingly feasted on excess at taxpayers’ expense. And the power players in Richmond need to remember that people on this side of the state pay taxes, too. Roads here need to be maintained just the same as those in Northern Virginia.

Dealing with the rest stops dilemma is another matter. Under the commercialization option, money from gas, food and drink sales could be used to keep the areas operating. Taking this step isn’t quite so simple. Federal law forbids states from making money off goods and services provided at those areas, but, of course, it still costs. Privatizing might require an act of Congress “or at least a waiver,” according to a story by The Associated Press.

We say get to it then. If there’s an avenue for government to get out of the losing business of operating rest stops, then it should be pursued. And if that road is blocked – though we see no sound reason why it should be – then the move to shutter stops should be considered with a caveat. Let’s see what an audit shows us. If, after removing any waste it finds, a budget gap persists, then close the stops. Tough times, as Obenshain knows well, demand tough action.