HD16 - The Upgrade of Rest Areas on Virginia's Interstate Highways


Executive Summary:
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) operates 40 rest areas on its interstate highways. Nine of these sites have a welcome center staffed by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. The average age of these facilities is 25 years. Over the past five years, the number of rest area users has increased. At some locations, the current number of customers exceeds the rest area's capacity.

In order to enhance the provision of providing ultimate service to its customers, VDOT regularly assesses each rest area and determines an improvement strategy. Such strategies include replacing rest areas with new facilities, building new rest areas where no services exist, or upgrading existing facilities.

Building new facilities or replacing facilities is feasible when no comparable services are available or when correcting a deficiency at an existing rest area is not technically possible. Some constraints that may limit improvements to an existing rest area include topography, environmental impacts, and utility resources, especially water. Another important factor that must be considered is the availability of land. In some locations, land for new rest areas is not available, thereby making the options to replace or to build new rest areas not feasible.

Currently, VDOT plans to open two new facilities in 1998 near mile marker 34 on I-64 near the community of Longdale Furnace in Alleghany County. At these sites, VDOT owns the land and already has constructed entrance ramps and parking areas. Also, there are no comparable private or public sector services within a half-hour in either direction of these sites. By the year 2001, VDOT is also considering designing a new facility on I-81 where a 103-mile gap in services exists.

VDOT has found at some locations that it is more cost effective to upgrade an existing facility to provide better services than to buy land, design, and construct new facilities. VDOT has reviewed the services at its 40 interstate rest areas and identified 22 locations where upgrades can be made to improve services. These upgrades include expanding parking areas, increasing rest room facilities, providing traveler/tourist information kiosks, increase the accessibility of the facilities for the mobility impaired and improving landscaping. These projects include the participation of both VDOT and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.