Highway repairs and road closures are often an inconvenience, but for truckstop and travel plaza operators, traffic detours or delays can result in a significant decrease in revenue. What’s more, changes to exits or traffic patterns can create long-term disruptions that can leave businesses at a permanent disadvantage.
There are several steps operators can take to make the process easier, said David Fialkov, vice president of government relations and legislative and regulatory counsel for NATSO.
“One thing you should always do is introduce yourself and get to know the local project manager who is going to be overseeing the operation and make sure that you get well acquainted with him or her,” he said. “That individual is the type of person who can make your life better or worse depending on the degree he or she agrees with you.”
Cultivating Contacts
Dave Shoemaker, owner of Shoemaker’s Travel Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, had to negotiate with the state and the city when building a new facility and said all parties were able to work together to improve the process. “There were 30 people in the room during the first meeting we had when we built this place. We were working with the city, the state, the county, their engineers and our engineers. That was so cool,” he said.
Not long after that, the state employees were talking about Shoemaker’s project like it was their own. “Once they took ownership, I was overjoyed. It was no longer my project in terms of what I wanted to do. It was our project,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker said it is essential for business owners to recognize the state’s requirements. “You have to understand their point of view as well as yours,” he said. “They have their bosses and certain rules they have to work with for the city and state.”
By understanding the rules and working together, both sides are more likely to find a win-win solution, Shoemaker said. He added that even though emotions can run high, it is important to avoid threatening anyone. “They’re people. If you threaten them, they’ve lost interest,” he said, adding that he had frequent direct contact with a representative from the state. “He was great. He would listen to my concerns.”
Ultimately, the state changed the intersection near Shoemakers from a standard clover-leaf to a diversion diamond. “At no time do you have to turn in front of traffic. There are stop lights on either side,” Shoemaker said...