Ban On Interstate Biz May Be Relaxed

Los Angeles Times:

Reporting from Washington – Which will it be: fewer places to stop on the highway to catch 40 winks, or fast food galore at rest areas? That’s the choice facing Congress as it considers whether to relax a decades-old ban on businesses along the nation’s interstates.

The restriction was instituted during construction of the highway system, in response to community fears that motorists would bypass local businesses, devastating their economies. Only enterprises that existed before 1960 were exempt.

But now officials in Virginia, one of a number of financially strapped states closing rest areas, want to privatize the sites in order to maintain an important public convenience — and maybe even make money.

The Partnership to Save Highway Communities, whose members include the Assn. of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees, the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers and McDonald’s Corp., has opposed Virginia’s efforts. More.

Photo: Steve Helber / Associated Press.

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