Maybe we fell asleep and awoke in a different dimension. Nope, it”™s still Connecticut.
What has us in this hallucinatory, angst-driven stupor are not the hazy, lazy days of summer, but rather the pitch being made to fix up the service plazas and rest areas and, oh yes, making more spaces available for trucks along the highways.
The purpose is to enhance tourism. That should be read as a declarative rather than an interrogative sentence followed by several exclamation points.
State Department of Transportation officials were up in Hartford last week offering recommendations to the Transportation Strategy Board.
Here”™s a crazy, wild-eyed idea: Fix I-95.
No, no, no, can”™t do that. We must first enhance the service plazas and rest stops.
Actually, the state is onto something here, but we know that it will all end abysmally.
However, one way to upgrade the plazas ”“ and it would be great for businesses ”“ is to introduce services other than fast food and bathrooms. Picture the typical motorist stewing as his car crawls along the interstate, cursing, spewing venom to all that choose to roll down their windows and listen to. Now, imagine seeing a sign that says,
SERVICE AREA ONE MILE
McDONALD”™S
MONA”™S MASSAGE ?ANGER B GONE INC.
Instead of being stuck in traffic, pull over and get an oil change and the brakes fixed. How come there are no ethnic restaurants at the stops? Chinese takeout would be a good fit. Same for Indian fare and sushi. Boost local farm produce and products.
Now we”™re not against truckers getting their 40 winks; it”™s much better than having them weave across the highway and cause massive pileups. But maybe the state can make some money and start charging for their sleepovers. Heck, RV campsites don”™t let you snooze for free. So why should the state spend tax dollars on free parking?
Create more rest stops for truckers; just don”™t put them next to housing developments where people can suck in all those diesel fumes when the nights get cold. And come up with a reasonable fare for parking. Put it to the truck drivers this way: Pay for parking or we”™ll start setting up toll booths to make your life miserable. We think the parking fee would be very palatable. The money collected could eventually be used to do some good like fix I-95; otherwise the state greeting will remain:
Welcome to Connecticut, get ready to hit your brakes.