Wanted: sponsors for rest areas

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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If corporate sponsorships can help keep Iowa's 40 interstate highway rest areas open and well maintained, we're all for it - with some well-targeted restrictions.

Last week, the Iowa Department of Transportation announced it will seek competitive bids on sponsorship rights for the state's rest areas, which see 16 million visitors a year. The idea is to help defray some of the $3.7 million in annual operating expenses. This could benefit rest-stop users, the state budget and the sponsors, who could boost their public image. At least three other states, Georgia, Ohio and Virginia, are trying this approach as one way to ease a bit of the strain on their highway budgets.

Iowa is launching its initiative three months after the Federal Highway Administration clarified its guidelines on sponsorships. Those rules - see www.fhwa.dot.gov/legsregs/directives/orders/51601.pdf - allow sponsored “acknowledgment signs”: one on the interstate right of way in advance of the rest area and others within the rest-stop building. Those signs' design must be consistent with other highway signs.

Where things could get sticky is in the type of sponsors accepted. Iowa's rules specifically prohibit partisan endorsements for political candidates. Beyond that, Iowa DOT officials say they do have concerns that some prospective sponsors could be controversial. John Adam, director for the Iowa DOT's highway division, says there is some latitude in deciding whether a sponsor applicant “would be detrimental to the public good.” However, he also acknowledged that the evaluation rules aren't finalized yet.

Clarifying that process is important. Other states have had mixed results with extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. In a related incident, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Missouri's effort to reject the KKK's application to participate in that state's Adopt-a-Highway program.

Ideally, we'd prefer to see Iowa-based companies and tourist attractions heavily involved in the sponsorships - a sign of their commitment to our state.

Even with some of the potential roadblocks, the sponsorship program fits Gov. Terry Branstad's challenge to find more creative and cost-effective ways to operate the transportation agency.

True, the sponsorships wouldn't put a big dent in the state's $200 million-plus funding shortfall for road maintenance and critical improvements. That will require more severe action, such as increasing the gas tax - something the governor said he's willing to consider during next year's legislative session.

Still, if a well-crafted sponsorship program can save some money and keep rest stops open, especially for drivers who could use a break to ensure they're alert on the road, let's try it.

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