PHOENIX – Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Director John Halikowski released an agency video explaining why Arizona is seeking to amend a 1956 federal law that bans rest area commercialization, The Trucker News Services reports.

According to Halikowski, federal law does not provide states the flexibility to fund rest areas, and several states in addition to Arizona — Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Maine and Texas — have closed at least five rest areas recently.

A recent survey by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) concluded, "In this period of diminishing budgets, state DOTs are facing numerous challenges in keeping rest areas in operation. These challenges include large capital costs to replace buildings and parking lots that have passed their useful lives, providing security to deter criminal activity, and the high cost of replacing failed water and septic systems."

The survey revealed that 80 percent of the responding states indicated they favored changing the federal law to allow flexibility in leasing rest areas.

Last year, Arizona closed 13 rest areas because of budget costs and cost overruns for emergency snow removal following harsh winter storms.

"Essentially we had to make a choice last winter between plowing snow and keeping those rest areas operational. Obviously we had to plow," Halikowski said.

Halikowski said the funding of rest areas requires long-term solutions, with the average rest area costing $300,000 a year to operate.

Read more about the NACS position on rest area commercialization.