THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. — When you gotta go, you gotta go. And the state wants to make that experience more enjoyable, at least at roadside rest stops.
Drivers are encouraged to fill out surveys on their recent visits to any of the 47 rest stops along state and federal highways in Washington. The surveys will be collected up until Labor Day, Sept. 5.
Results will be passed on to maintenance crews, engineers, developers and potentially legislators.
”If people want restaurants at rest stops, for instance, that’s going to take an act of legislation to make that possible,” said Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson Tina Werner. “Those are the types of comments we want to hear from folks.”
Semi-truck driver Rick Rutledge has driven up and down the Interstate 5 corridor for more than 25 years. He said the trucking industry has outgrown the existing parking lots. He’d like to see them expanded.
”If you drive anytime at night the off-ramps and on-ramps are just loaded with trucks,” said Rutledge.
Peter Castaneda and his family, on their way from Burien to the Oregon coast for the weekend, said all they care about are keeping the bathrooms clean.
”Some of the rest areas are good,” said Castaneda, “But some of them are really nasty.”