The two are a lot more related than you’d think.
One of Governor Bob McDonnell’s first acts upon taking office was to have VDOT begin the process of reopening Virginia’s rest areas that had been shuttered due to budget cuts:
Under the plan approved today, the Virginia Department of Transportation will use $3 million from its maintenance reserve fund to operate the facilities through the remainder of this fiscal year which ends June 30. Long-term funding for the rest areas will be identified as VDOT revises its maintenance budget this spring. The maximum anticipated cost for FY 2011 is $7.5 million.
As RVANews noted this weekend in an article about road maintenance in the Richmond area, VDOT assists Virginia counties in clearing and maintaining the roads. Those funds come straight from the “maintenance reserve fund” which now has a $3 million, well, pothole in it. And when much of the state is recovering from one of the worst snow storms in a long time, that pinch may be felt sonner rather than later.
But at least you won’t have to hold it.
