The Virginia Department of Transportation has reached an agreement to pay a truck stop owner $7.2 milion dollars for tearing down the truck stop in order to renovate a highway.
Initial reports indicated that the company planned to reopen the 40-year-old truck stop at a nearby location once construction of the highway was completed, however new reports indicate that the truck stop, and the much-needed truck parking spaces, are not likely to make a return.
The Travel Centers of America truck stop located at exit 150 on Interstate 81 in Troutville, Virginia, was closed back in 2015, when the state filed an eminent domain action that seized the 12.2 acre plot of land that the truck stop resided on in order to reconfigure the Interstate 81 interchange.
At the time of the closing, Travel Centers of America said they were looking at plans to redevelop the location nearby and bring back the lost truck parking, which there’s a severe shortage of in the country.
On December 21st, 2017, Travel Centers of America reached a settlement with the state of Virginia for $7.2 million dollars, nearly $1 million more than the state originally agreed to pay for the land.
Now that the company has reached a settlement with the state, however, new reports by local paper The Roanoke Times state that Travel Centers of America will not be rebuilding the truck stop in the area.
This will amount to a permanent reduction of 129 truck parking spaces in an area that sees heavy truck traffic.
The state of Virginia said the removal of the truck stop was necessary in order to make changes to the I-81/U.S. 220 interchange that will redirect traffic flow to a roundabout and significantly reduce congestion.
