Rest stops among state budget cuts

The Virginia Department of Transportation is eliminating two Augusta County rest stops, the Verona residency office and is making across the board service reductions in cuts approved Thursday by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

The board adopted VDOT’s $3.47-billion budget for next fiscal year and its $7.4-billion six-year plan.

Dwindling state revenues could mean more cuts will come, a VDOT official said.

The cuts in the six-year plan amount to $1.5 billion from revisions approved in February, and $3.6 billion from June 2007.

Public outcry prompted VDOT to keep open four Interstate 81 rest stops targeted for closing.

But two Mount Sidney stops and 17 others remained on the hit list. Of its 42 rest stops, just 23 will remain.

Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, criticized the cuts.

“I’m beginning to think the reasons for the closures are political rather than from a logical or budgetary standpoint,” Landes said. 

Landes said if he is re-elected this fall, he will work with the new governor to restore the rest stops and the residency office in Verona.

VDOT spokesman Jeff Caldwell said the targeted stops will close by mid-July, though a more specific timetable will be released in about a week.

Stops near New Market on northbound I-81 and southbound at Fairfield will remain open.

“The rest stops are problematic because the ones in Mount Sidney will impact on tourism particularly,” Landes said.

Reo Hatfield, president of Reo Distribution in Waynesboro, said the rest stop closures also would hurt truck drivers.

“It makes a big difference on the trucking industry because the rest stops are just for that ... to abide by the safety laws,” Hatfield said. “Without them, they put themselves at risk or put their vehicles in an unsafe place not acceptable by the public, or me either.”

With the Verona residency office closing, real estate developers seeking permits will have to go to VDOT’s Staunton district office, and Augusta County maintenance will be performed from the agency’s Harrisonburg office. Those working at the soon-to-close residency offices could still have jobs with VDOT depending on vacancies and retirements in other parts of the state. Caldwell said that would be determined over the next few months.

The residency closures, along with other organizational moves, will take place later this summer.

Maintenance and snow removal operations will not be affected by the move, Caldwell said.

“For Joe Driver, there won’t be a significant change,” Caldwell said.

Landes disagreed, saying that to have something done, VDOT’s administrative staff has to be involved. Though the workers do a great job, he said, “we’re going to lose people who are going to make the decisions.”

As part of its budget cuts for the next year, Caldwell said mowing and service safety patrols would be slashed and new or existing road construction would grind to a virtual halt other than repaving or repairing structurally deficient bridges.

“We’re seeing more and more projects delayed or cut out from the plan altogether,” Caldwell said.

With 1,000 full-time positions and another 400 part-time jobs being cut, the department can’t absorb many more reductions and continue to provide core functions, Caldwell said.

“Unfortunately the news is not improving with transportation funding,” Caldwell said. “We anticipate that we’ll have to do more with our six-year program. In all likelihood, it will have to impact services if we can’t come up with another solution.”

Landes said waste in VDOT’s bureaucracy needs to be cleaned up. He called for the agency to undergo an independent audit. Other Republicans, including gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, have made similar calls

“I think it sends the wrong message,” Landes said. “I think Virginia is supposed to be open for business, and they’re going to see shuttered rest stops instead.”