Eminent Domain

This weekend, the area at Exit 150 known as "the truckstop" closed. It closed not of its own accord, but because the state took the property and forced the company to shut down.

The land was wanted so the state can reroute the interchange and make things work better there.

Many people, myself included, feel that simply closing the truckstop will help the interchange immensely. The state, however, has plans to spend $46.5 million on this intersection, creating a new road (and the county supervisors are drooling for development along this new route), and adding a round-about.

A film I saw recently about the interchange (sometimes being a journalist has its perks) indicates that by 2036, there will be issues with the round-about. It shows traffic having to stop and slow down in order to let others through. No one likes the round-about but the state is insisting on it. I think it will be a big snafu and ultimately something else to be fixed.

I have serious concerns about the state taking the truckstop. On the one hand, I have sat in those very long lines of traffic that back up on the interstate during rush hours. I know that the interchange, which intersects not just I-81 but also US 220 and US 11, is a headache for local drivers as well as travelers who simply want to get to Cracker Barrel and have dinner.

But the 7 acres the state has taken will be dormant, and the state isn't doing much mowing these days because of funding cutbacks. In 10 years, I look for this wasted acreage to be an overgrown tempest filled with stinky paradise trees, brush, and a homeless person or two. If the state doesn't keep it mowed and cleaned up, that is a likely scenario.

The county is losing revenue with the loss of the truck stop, also. It is not as much as people believe - I've seen some crazy figures tossed around on Facebook - but for a local government any sum can be the number that means closing a school or cutting back personnel or shutting down a library. Plus about 45 people lost jobs. On the one hand, 45 people in a county of 32,000 is not many, but on the other, the county is handing out dollars hand over fist to companies to locate in Greenfield who offer a similar small number of employment options.

I don't know how much other revenue will be lost during construction. This is a three-year project and I daresay travelers will venture on to other exits for meals and overnight stays. I would, if I knew the construction was going on. Sometimes you don't know until you're right on top of it and no one mentions it when you make reservations, though.

The interchange does need to be improved. But I don't know that the state is making the right moves, and I disagree with shutting down a business like it did, especially when it did not move the business but instead offered a financial pay-out. The truckstop provided a necessary service for truckers, who by federal law are required to have certain rest times. They also need to fuel up and eat.

So I am mixed on this decision. It is done now, and of course there is nothing I could have done about it anyway. But I do wonder about the thought processes of those who are in control.