The state Senate has passed the first long-term reform to Virginia's floundering 27-year-old system for funding repairs and upkeep of its 58,000-mile network of highways. The 25-15 vote sends to Gov. Bob McDonnell what would be the defining policy legacy in the fourth and final year of the single, non-renewable

VIRGINIA - "Look beyond the deal specifics and look at the real implications of the announced deal on HB2313, and you'll see a bill that represents bad fiscal policy and bad transportation policy," said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. "It's a bad deal for Virginia. Without reforming VDOT spending the statewide component of the funding will be wasted, and all Virginians will have to pay for this waste. On the same day that the conference committee announced a deal proposing about $850 million per year in additional transportation funding, we learned that VDOT is wasting yet more of the $3 billion in funds approved by the General Assembly in 2011," said Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council. "Yesterday, in a presentation to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, VDOT said it would allocate $869 million in borrowed federal funds to Route 460 and the Coalfields Expressway, two of the most wasteful projects to ever be proposed in Virginia. Then there is the $1.25 billion or so they propose to waste on the Charlottesville Bypass and the NoVA Outer Beltway. "

More than 150 people gathered in the auditorium of John Champe High School Monday night to learn more about the state’s plans to build a new highway across Loudoun and Prince William counties. For most in the room, there were more questions than answers, even for program organizers—longtime critics who

Jan. 2, 2013 is the last day for citizens to voice their opinions on the new Bi-County, formerly Tri-County North/South Dulles Corridor, for a 2012 General Assembly report. Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, a nonprofit group of business people and residents within Northern Virginia, recommends residents demonstrate their support for the corridor by sending a message to Governor McDonnell. "The North/South Corridor is critical to the future of Dulles Airport, and the future of Dulles Airport is critical to Northern Virginia and the entire Commonwealth,” said Bob Chase, President of NVTA.

On behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, I wish to register our strongest objections to the conduct of the "North-South Corridor of Statewide Significance (COSS)" study and to the very concept of the proposal. Our first objection is to the lack of transparency and seriously inadequate public involvement and notice that have characterized this proposal from the outset, including...