Coalition blasts proposal to allow commercialization of rest areas
Allowing commercialization of state operated rest areas could jeopardize the jobs of 2 million Americans, a coalition opposed to the idea says. (The Trucker file photo)
The Trucker News Services
6/23/2011
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Partnership to Save Highway Communities, a coalition of highway businesses, says that a proposed bill unveiled this week threatens thousands of businesses operating at the exits along the nation’s interstate highway system, jeopardizing the jobs of more than 2 million Americans.
Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., on Monday released details of what he called the Lincoln Legacy Infrastructure Act that Kirk said could mobilize $100 billion for new roads, airports and railroads.
Among many other revenue possibilities, Kirk said the act would allow for commercialization of safety rest areas, thus providing additional resources to states with budget shortfalls.
In a news release, the coalition said the legislation would “pull the rug” out from under the nation’s interstate-based fast food franchisees, convenience stores, gas stations and truck stops at a time when the businesses are just starting to see signs of recovery from the recession.
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“This legislation does nothing more than grant state governments a monopoly directly on the interstate shoulder or median. The right-of-way location of the commercial rest areas gives the state a major advantage over the businesses at the exit,” said Lisa Mullings, president and CEO of NATSO, a member of the coalition representing truck stops. “On interstates where there are commercial rest areas, there are 50 percent fewer businesses at the exits. By changing this law, the government isn’t creating any new demand from travelers for hamburgers or gasoline. They are simply transferring sales from exits to state rest areas.”
Small towns and counties are benefactors, with interstate exit businesses paying more than $600 million a year to local governments, helping to fund schools, police and fire departments and other local services, the coalition said, claiming that the Kirk legislation would result in town and county governments seeing some of their top taxpayers threatened, potentially transferring state budget woes onto local governments.
The groups contend that Congress effectively privatized interstate services in the late 50s, by passing legislation that prohibited commercial development of rest areas after 1960. The law successfully encouraged investment at the exits, with some 97,000 small businesses operating today within a quarter-mile of the interstate highway system.
Kirk said the act would give new life to President Abraham Lincoln's economic legacy by building new roads, airports, and railroads using public-private partnerships without new federal borrowing.
"One of President Lincoln's greatest legacies was the Transcontinental Railway Act which led to the completion of the largest infrastructure project in American history without a dime from Congress,” Kirk said in releasing details about the proposal. “Approximately 2,000 miles of track were built in only six years, creating more than 7,000 cities and towns west of the Mississippi. The Lincoln Legacy Infrastructure Development Act embraces the Lincoln Administration's public-private partnership success by lifting federal restrictions, which could mobilize $100 billion for new roads, airports and railroads."
The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at editor@thetrucker.com.
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