When the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) closed Goochland’s two I-64 rest stops last July in an attempt to save money, local merchants prepared to take advantage of the change and look for new business.

Now that Gov. McDonnell has decided to reopen the rest areas, the same merchants are looking ahead to April, when the Oilville rest stops will again be available to travelers.

The rest stop closing had a significant effect on some of the businesses closest to them, as travelers turned off at the Rockville and Oilville exits to find places to take a break.

Cecil Wise, owner of the Wise Choice station at the Rockville Manakin exit, said last week the rest stop closing decision was a mixed blessing.

Wise, who has been in business at the location for 22 years, began opening on Sundays to take advantage of the extra traffic.

“During tourist season it helped us a whole lot,” he said. He had more people coming into the store, but they weren’t always happy.

“They were really upset,” he said, recalling customers standing in line to use his restrooms. “My facilities couldn’t handle it.”

Wise said he began closing on Sundays again in October.

“It just wasn’t worth it,” he said.

But he hopes that the experience had a few worthwhile aspects. “I hope I made some new lasting customers,” he said.

FasMart manager Gloria Joseph, whose business is located just down the road from Wise, had a similar experience.

“I like to think the people who stopped will be repeat business,” said Joseph, who has run the store for the last five years.

She expects a fall-off in traffic but hopes a sandwich shop planned for the location will offset any business lost to the rest stops.

Other nearby stations said the rest stop closing had little effect on their business.

Centreville Exxon manager Kevin Salmon said the closing was “sort of a non-event for us,” although he acknowledged he might have lost some repair work, since the rest stop staff would sometimes refer motorists with car trouble to his garage.

Oilville BP and Bulletts Manager Nadia Kozreva said the rest stop closing brought more travelers into her store, but like Wise, said they weren’t always happy to be there.

“A lot of people complained that they had to come here because the rest stops closed,” she recalled. “I’m glad they are reopening.”

Photo by Ken Odor
FasMart Assistant Manager Harold Alger and Manager Gloria Joseph hope they made some new customers during the time the county’s two rest stops on I-64 were closed.  When the stops re-open, Joseph says she expects a fall-off in traffic but hopes a sandwich shop planned for the location will offset any business lost.