Posted on 07/03/2009 4:55:55 PM PDT by Steelfish
July 03, 2009
R.I.P.: Budget Woes Spell Doom for Roadside Rest Stops Drivers Looking for a Break Keep on Trucking; Virginia Leaves Door Open for July 4 Holiday
By MIKE ESTERL
As millions of Americans take to the road for the holiday weekend, a humble highway fixture is under attack.
Later this month, cash-strapped Virginia plans to barricade entrances and switch off the plumbing and electricity at nearly half its highway rest areas.
Other states also are lowering budgetary axes on the public pit stops that have lined the interstate highway system since its creation in 1956.
But rest stops aren't going quietly.
Truckers, blind merchants and a dogged historian are fighting to preserve them. If the battle is lost, every long-distance motorist will need "a strong rear end and a strong bladder" to hit the road, warns John Townsend, an official with the American Automobile Association in Washington.
There are about 2,500 rest areas along the interstates. State governments build and maintain them. Most have remained steadfastly utilitarian: a parking lot, a simple building with toilets, a few picnic benches, and maybe some vending machines.
Because many of the interstates bypassed cities and towns, travelers often had no other options when they needed to pull off the road.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Nope, never ever give some fat pig bureaucrat the boot (or many of them).. cut off the stuff people might really want...
Way to go Governor Kaine (D VA) ;(
In Texas, the homo-perverts hastened the end of decent rest stops when they became cruising and brazen sex centers for the deviants.
Well, just stop at the next exit and go to McDonald’s or a Flying ‘J’ if you need to go to the restroom. What is so hard about that?
Say good bye to any vestige of interstate tourist or commerce revenue you political idiots.
Sometimes I think one has to have their brains sucked out before becoming a politician.
The least they could do would be to bring back pay per use; there aren’t readily accessible facilities like there used to be at filling stations. Most of the convenience stores have restrooms for employees only and fast foods are definitely customers only.
So where are the perverts to go then, to Minneapolis international airport rest rooms? ; )
I have never been to a McD’s or Burger King or any other fast food place near an interstate where there was any indication of “customers only”..
that being said.. the reduction of services along interstate highways is just one of many steps coming on our descent into third world nation status.
obamas fault
As a matter of fact, yes. A deviant is a deviant, no matter what letter comes before his name.
Texas had some wonderful rest stops with fully equipped restrooms, picnic tables, nice landscaping, and information displays including maps, area facts, and accommodation listings. It's truly a tragedy that the perverts overran them.
That’s a great idea for regular travelers but I think the big problem will be for truckers who depend on these stops not just to use the facilities but to park and sleep. If anyone has a bit of land right off the highway, perhaps opening a truck stop could be a worthwhile investment.
Where are the gay rights advocates to blast this ? How will they get to do their wide stance tapdancing routine with public crappers ?
Because a lot of people who are driving sunup to sundown find it more refreshing to stop at roadside parks because you can eat standing up and walking around...especially when traveling with pets.
LOL!
It would be fun to go in there with a mouse trap. Then run like hell.
I love Flying "J" travel centers. But McDonald's is another thing. For the life of me I can't figure out why the largest fast-food franchise in the world consistently has such messy bathrooms. I have yet to stop at one that has cleaned their restroom (and no towel options either - strictly hand blowers).
In my several travels across TX in the past two years, mostly along I-10, there are a fair number of rest stops and they are the cleanest of any state from CA to FL along that route.
” glory holes
It would be fun to go in there with a mouse trap. Then run like hell.”
Um, I am not sure you would have to run......think about it.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.