Although the State of Alaska provides limited maintenance for highway public rest stops for summer tourisim, it needs attention because a disservice is placed upon year-round residents and visitors, forces private businesses to provide this service and makes for a very long car ride.
I remember as a child going on family trips in the car from Indiana to Florida. One of the biggest highlights of our numerous trips was the idea of stopping at a rest stop, we were to take care of our business and then were able to run for a few minutes . I could always remember that the rest stops were very clean, safe, attainable and available anytime of the year. The rest stops served as a good break for my parents and break from the 3 kids in the back yelling "I have to go to the bathroom". The rest stops were built in a manner that provide a wonerful service to visitors and residents.
Now that I am a parent of two children, I want to pass on the joy of car trips that I enjoyed as child. I have noticed since moving to Alaska that our road trips are not very enjoyable.
If we decide to make a summer trip we knew that we had plenty of places to stop. There were plenty of places to stop and stretch our legs. But, If we decided to make a trip between Labor Day and May 15th it would make for a different experience. The reason, public facilities are not open or properly maintained after Labor Day. Why is that, do tourist only visit in the summer? Are the residents of the state only making car trips during a specific time of year?
What about the residents that want to take off and see the fall colors or go shopping in Anchorage? How about the tourist who want to come to Alaska to see the Northern Lights? What are they to do when nature calls? With the public facilities few and far between and not properly maintained, I believe more waste is going to be left on the side of the road. The state needs to maintain these facilities year round to provide residents and tourist a pleasant car trip anytime of the year.
Although gas stations are opened year round, should they be responsible for providing this service? They could say, " if you want to use the bathroom, you need to buy something", or a sign could be posted that says "no public restrooms", then what are people to do? How far away is the next restroom and what are their policies. I believe that if I am stopping to get gas, buying coffee or snacks, I should be able to use their facilities, I am bringing them a profit that will help offset the electricity used in the bathroom and the sewage disposal. But, why should gas stations provide this service if they get nothing in return, but waste.
Why should a road trip be such a unpleasant experience between Labor Day and May 15th? Why should parents have to tell children "you need to hold it" because there is not a maintained public rest stop on a major road. Do you stop and let them relieve themselves on the side of the road? Tourist and residents are going to use whatever means available, including the side of the road, to make themselves comfortable.
We live in a profitable state, why couldn't an allotted amount of money be put aside to build new facilities or even maintain and repair the facilities we already have in place? This would provide a pleasant and safe experience for everyone year round. Visitors and residents would not have to plan their trips around availablity of facilities.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Samantha Smith's Workshop!!
The audience is the residents of Alaska or perhaps the State of Alaska maintenance crew. The residents of Alaska would approve and the opposition would be the State of Alaska. She, herself is a resident, she is writing to bring something positive for Alaskan residents. The road maintenance would cost money and the state is where this money comes from, so they would be the opposition, because they don't want to spend the money. Her supporting reasons are because disservice is placed upon Alaskan, who face a very long winter car ride and to not let the businesses take the burden of rest stops along Alaska’s highways.
These are the reason’s listed in the thesis and the body of the paper. Once suggestion is also, that rest stops in the winter provide shelter in case of a breakdown.
The counterarguments are that gas stations provide these services and people traveling could just pull over and relieve themselves on the side of the road. The author does adequately address these arguments by saying that gas stations shouldn’t have to take these burdens and that travelers should have to relieve their selves on the side of the road. Other argument that could be addressed are the cost of maintaining in the winter (plowing and perhaps heating), the fact that the traffic in the winter is not significant when compared to the summer months.
I think that the first 2 paragraphs should be put together as the introduction. The rest of the paragraphs expand on the thesis. The organization of the paper could be improved by having the first two paragraphs as the introduction, then the next three paragraphs expanding on the three points of the thesis, and the last paragraph as the conclusion. A lot of questions are asked in the paper, perhaps, instead of questions, you could say “Tourist who come to Alaska in the winter should have the same accommodations as the tourist who come in the summer.
Introduction and Conclusion:The paper starts off with the thesis. Maybe you could start the paper with the stuff in paragraph #2 and then roll into the thesis. I agree that some of the state’s money could go toward maintain road rest stops in the winter, but I don’t know if residents that live in the bush would agree to have their share of Alaska’s money to maintain roadways which they do not use.
I agree with Samantha this paper could and possibility directed at the Alaska maintenance crew but also our State Government. The ride to Anchorage from Fairbanks is very long, but add to it the lack of use for facilities can make it unbearable. The experience should be positive as described in the beginning of the essay. I would suggest adding how would the State pay for year round restrooms at rest stops. The easy reads well and flows from the thesis statement. Maybe adding a more catcher title to attract the audience, but over all I enjoyed reading your assay.
Post a Comment