COVID-19 Sanitation standards at interstate rest areas Just how clean (and sanitary) are washrooms at interstate rest areas? The answer depends on the state in which a particular rest area is located. Although the interstate highway system was built with federal funds, the care and maintenance of highways (including rest areas) are the responsibility of the state’s Department of Transportation (DoT). To learn about sanitation standards, you will need to consult the DoT of the state through which you will travel. To make this task a little bit easier, CSANews did some research. Selecting four popular snowbird destinations and four Canadian cities as starting points, we mapped out a route for each. We then identified the major interstate highways on each route and the states through which travellers will pass on their journey (see table). Next, we looked for (and found) a website that lists website and contact information for the DoTs in all 50 states. Finally, we did a test run to see how well our strategy worked. Finding a DoT is as easy as ABC To find website and contact information for a state’s department of transport, visit www.interstaterestareas.com/department-of-transportation-information/ or go to www. interstaterestareas.com and click on “View a list of transportation offices” link under “Lost Items.” We chose our West Coast route for this test. The I-5 highway that runs from the Canadian border near Vancouver to San Diego runs through three states: Washington, Oregon and California. We searched the DoT website for each state looking for information related to rest area washroom facilities and what cleaning and sanitation protocols or standards were in place. If necessary, we also telephoned the and spoke with a representative. Results of our test are given below. Washington The website of Washington’s DoT tells us that the state has 47major rest areas, all of which remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic except for normal seasonal closures. Regular standards require washrooms at rest areas to be cleaned and sanitizeddaily; in response to the pandemic, the state has mandated that washroom touch points be disinfected and supplies restocked more frequently. Oregon The DoT website confirms that all rest areas on the Oregon stretch of the I-5 remain open during the pandemic, and cleaning of most rest areas has been doubled in frequency. California We were unable to find any information about sanitation standards for rest area washrooms on California’s DoT website, so we contacted the DoT directly. We reached Public Information Officer AndrewGoetz of Caltrans District One in the northwest part of the state. After consulting with a colleague, Mr. Goetz told us that no rest areas were closed due to COVID-19, as the facilities are considered essential for travellers, especially the truckers who move essential goods across the country. (Some rest areas are closed for routine maintenance.) As for the washrooms at rest areas, he confirmed that the state was doing additional cleaning and disinfecting in response to the pandemic, but was unable to provide more detail. He did offer a helpful suggestion to improve the experience for snowbirds travelling through California. “Our Quickmap site (http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/) is a great resource for folks travelling by car,” he said. “There’s a map of the entire state, and you can view whether rest areas are open or closed, among other things.” We took a look and found that the site also shows road conditions, lane and road closures, message signs and road cameras. The traffic information is refreshed every fewminutes. (There’s even an app for both iPhone and Android.) CSANews | SUMMER 2020 | 41
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