Despite receiving $694.5 million for highway projects in the federal stimulus package, the Virginia Department of Transportation is planning to close 25 of the state's 41 Interstate Highway rest areas. American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves says the move poses a significant safety risk to motorists.

"It is simply beyond comprehension that Virginia would be willing to put lives at risk in order to balance the Commonwealth's budget," says Graves in a recent letter to Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Rest areas are important for the safety of average motorists and professional truck drivers alike. Both need a safe location to park, said Graves, who served for eight years as governor of Kansas.

"As a former governor, I can appreciate the difficult choices you have to make during these tough economic times," writes Graves.

But, even before the rest area closings, VDOT had publicly recognized that Virginia is "deficient in providing adequate parking for commercial vehicles,
especially along the I-95 and I-81 corridors."

VDOT's Statewide Safety Rest Area and Welcome Center Master Plan Draft
states that "the presence of safety rest areas has a direct correlation to a reduction in the number of shoulder stop and driver fatigue related accidents."

Virginia's rest areas play a critical role in preventing driver fatigue and also provide the accommodations necessary for motorists to tend to personal needs while on the road. Closing rest areas would encourage drivers to make stops along the shoulders of the highways, a dangerous practice. Last week a man was struck and killed on the shoulder of I-95 in Maryland when he stopped to switch drivers.

Removing safety rest stations hinders truck drivers' ability to meet federal Hours of Service regulations and causes unsafe situations for all motorists on the road. Eliminating nearly all of Virginia's rest areas in major truck corridors along I-81 and I-95 may also have a negative effect on the movement of consumer goods as motor carriers find alternative routes with better accommodations.

"Gov. Kaine, the trucking industry today has the lowest fatality rate since records began being kept in 1975. This achievement was possible only through a cooperative relationship between the trucking industry and our public sector partners. It would be a shame to squander these hard-won gains due to a temporary lack of resources," writes Graves.

The American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of other trucking groups, industry-related conferences, and its 50 affiliated state trucking associations, ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of motor carrier in the United States.