INDIANAPOLIS – Your road trip may soon get swankier.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has won budgetary approval to pour $256 million into “welcome center” rest areas and truck parking at multiple highway locations around the state. That’s even though lawmakers on the State Budget Committee expressed skepticism about the high price tag.
“We are trying to turn these into destinations,” Statewide Facilities Director Steve McAvoy told the body. He said, “Indiana’s rest stops mostly date back to the mid-60s, and they look it.”
“The current Welcome Centers have not been positive first impressions for travelers and the new or reconstructed Centers will be gateways to Indiana with architectural elements that match the region in which they are located,” INDOT said in its request.
And, there’s not enough truck parking, per McAvoy, leaving commercial drivers to park their 18-wheelers along the side of the highway.
So INDOT has embarked on a 13-year revamp. It involves replacing 16 of the state’s 27 rest areas and adding nearly 1,000 parking spots.
The agency has already started but appeared before the committee to request approval for its next tranche of funding.
According to the committee’s agenda, the request would go toward six welcome centers. It would also cover truck parking additions to those facilities and the Taylorsville rest area.
Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, balked at the price tag. “Forty-two million dollars apiece, on average, is a heck of a welcome center,” Garten said. “… So help me understand.”
McAvoy said the buildings are expected to cost a fraction of the total: $11 million to $12 million each. He estimated that one-third of the average $42 million per facility will go to pavement. Each truck parking spot costs $45,000 because they’re supported by 14 inches of concrete underfoot.
Read the entire Leslie Bonilla Muñiz story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.
