Why are so many rest stops closed?
I'm heading west from NC on my way to Los Angeles along I-40. I've noticed that about 30% of the rest stops are closed. Why is that? Is it because of budget cuts, restoration, abuses by travelers? ...
Forum Discussion
subcamper wrote:
When it comes to budget cuts, politicians usually chop the stuff that produces the least repercussions from the voters (as in not getting re-elected!). Since rest stops are often used by travelers from out of state, the actual number of people that would be angry about the rest stop closures and could do something about it is small.
Steve
That quite possibly is the way AZ laww makers thought in 2010 but it didn't work out that way at all:
The New York Times wrote:
The people of Arizona kept their upper lips stiff when officials mortgaged off the state’s executive office tower and a “Daily Show” crew rolled into town to chronicle the transaction in mocking tones. They remained calm as lawmakers pondered privatizing death row.
But then the state took away their toilets, and residents began to revolt.
“Why don’t they charge a quarter or something?’” said Connie Lucas, who lives in Pine, Ariz., about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from here. “There was one rest stop between here and Phoenix, and we really needed it.”
Arizona has the largest budget gap in the country when measured as a percentage of its overall budget, and the state Department of Transportation was $100 million in the red last fall when it decided to close 13 of the state’s 18 highway rest stops.
I believe they reopened several of the rest stops since then but some of them are seasonal.
