Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell offered no specifics in his “comprehensive transportation funding and reform” plan to raise an additional $500 million per year to prevent the state from running out of money to build roads by 2017. Speaking in Fairfax County at his annual transportation conference, Governor McDonnell called on lawmakers to stay in session next year until they find a solution to Virginia’s long-term funding woes, which are exacerbated by the transfer of money from the state’s construction fund to required highway maintenance projects. “I don’t think we can wait any longer,” McDonnell said. “I don’t think I can continue to recruit businesses to Virginia and see the unemployment rate go down unless we are able to get a handle on and provide some long-term solutions this session to that problem.”
Tag: VDOT
Virginia Transportation Program is Off-Track as Virginia Governor’s Transportation Conference Convenes This Week in Tysons
The Virginia “Governor’s Transportation Conference” convenes in Tysons on December 5th, but we don’t expect this conference to address the very real problems with this administration’s transportation program.
Lest we Forget … State of Virginia is at Fault for High Dulles Tolls
“The state has failed to provide a fair share toward Dulles Rail from its Transportation Trust Fund, saddling Northern Virginians with nearly the entire cost of Phase 2,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “Meanwhile, VDOT is channeling state funds to speculative and unnecessary rural highway projects.
Letter to Secretary Ray LaHood and Secretary Sean Connaughton
The Environmental Assessment for the I-95 HOT Lanes Project is inadequate and should be redone to evaluate the full range of alternatives and impacts for the I-95 corridor and consider the full range of costs and benefits for alternative approaches. A decision involving $1 billion or more in publicly subsidized spending and the transfer of public right of way to a private company to collect tolls for up to 75 years merits far more thorough analysis. We urge you to reject this Environmental Assessment.
Letter to Governor McDonnell concerning the 95-395 HOT lanes
The Coalition for Smarter Growth and the Sierra Club – Virginia Chapter urge a full evaluation of alternatives for 95-395.
Region’s Longest Commutes Show Need for Smart Growth and Transit
Today’s Washington Post (A-1, “A Dubious Distinction: The Longest Ride in the U.S.”) reports on Census Bureau data showing that residents of parts of Prince William and Prince George’s Counties have some of the longest average commutes in the nation. Key issues highlighted in the article:
Stimulus – Don’t Give Blank Check to VDOT and MDOT
“The transportation portion of the stimulus badly misses the mark.” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, “It fails to mandate that most of the spending go to maintenance and operations of roads and transit and allows the Virginia and Maryland Departments of Transportation and the other state DOT’s too much authority to allocate $30 billion. That means business as usual instead of the fundamental change we need.”
Groups Seek Judgement in I-81 Suit
A coalition of non-profit groups filed a motion for summary judgment in federal court in Charlottesville Wednesday, challenging a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) plan to spend $11.4 billion to widen most of I-81 to an average of eight lanes.
Call for Fundamental Reevaluation of Virginia Transportation and Land Use
For Immediate Release: June 20, 2008
Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, CSG, 703-599-6437 (c)
Trip Pollard, SELC, 434-977-4090
Lisa Guthrie, VALCV, 804-225-1902
Conservation and Smart Growth Groups Call for Fundamental Reevaluation of Virginia Transportation and Land Use
Energy Challenge is an Opportunity to Design a Different Program Say Groups in Reaction to Transportation Funding Debate
(Richmond, VA) Following Governor Kaine’s release of his transportation funding proposal, Virginia conservation and smart growth groups commended the Governor’s increased focus on transit, freight and passenger rail and the effort to tie some limited funding to urban development areas, but argued that the Governor and legislature need to make more fundamental changes to the state transportation program.
“New money, and existing funding for that matter, must go for new ideas – a new product line,” said Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council. “Virginians need a commitment from the Governor and legislature that a funding package will not be advanced until there is a fundamental reevaluation of VDOT’s long range transportation plans to reflect a world of significantly higher gas prices.”
VDOT’s plans are based on much lower gas prices than are being experienced today. They are also based on an assumption of steadily increasing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) when in just a few short months VMT has already fallen 4.3% nationally in reaction to higher fuel costs. The groups called for a reevaluation of the statewide VTRANS 2025 plan, the Northern Virginia Transact 2030 plan, other metropolitan regional plans, and major project studies.
“Too many Virginia families are facing economic stress because we failed to design our communities and transportation systems to offer alternatives to driving for every trip. More than ever our economic competitiveness and ability to ship goods and attract workers will depend on having lower energy and infrastructure costs. But Virginia’s economy and Virginia’s families will remain vulnerable if the state continues to subsidize scattered, auto-dependent development patterns,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
“The Governor is on the right track with his new Sub-Cabinet on Community Investment, ‘tasked with promoting smart, sustainable growth by ensuring that state funds are invested in projects that reduce suburban sprawl,’” said Lisa Guthrie, Executive Director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, “but the place to start changing priorities is with the billions of dollars we spend each year on transportation.”
Trip Pollard, director of the Land and Community Program at the Southern Environmental Law Center stated, “With high gas prices we must provide more transportation choices and make revitalization of existing communities, mixed-use, transit-oriented and walkable communities, and transit, passenger and freight rail top priorities. And instead of bypass highways and super-wide arterial roads, we will need better local street networks that more safely accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists.”
“The energy crisis and climate change make it more important than ever that we buy the right transportation system for the next 50 to 100 years. We have a great opportunity to reconsider legacy projects and to make the fiscally prudent investments for the future. That is why we consider the fundamental reevaluation of VDOT’s program a critical prerequisite to any funding deal,” concluded Guthrie.
Open Letter to Governor Kaine on Land Use, Transportation and Funding
We are encouraged by your initiatives over the past two years to address Virginia’s land use and transportation challenges. Public support for better growth management remains at high levels, making your efforts to better link land use and transportation critically important. Your collective initiatives have included increased support for transit and freight rail, traffic impact studies, urban development areas, land conservation, stronger access management policies and changes to subdivision street standards.