In the aftermath of the collapse of the Virginia transportation funding plan, it isn’t just Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads that are being pinched.
The pain is spread across the state. Roads won’t be built, outdated bridges won’t be replaced and routine maintenance will be deferred.
The state can ignore its infrastructure needs for a while, but not forever, as evidenced by the tragic collapse of an interstate bridge in Minneapolis last year. Real needs are going unmet because state lawmakers remain at loggerheads over a funding method.
Southwest Virginia residents learned what the road-funding crunch will mean to the region this week. One-hundred-twenty road projects will be delayed or deferred.
The cutbacks include a $20 million section of the long-awaited Coalfields Expressway and the replacement of rural bridges. As we’ve noted earlier, this region has a large number of bridges that are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
In all, the region would lose $33.5 million in primary road funding, $20 million in secondary road funding and more than $7 million in urban road funding over the next six years. The cuts are part of a $1.1 billion reduction statewide.
The transportation cuts are a direct result of the collapse of the cobbled-together funding package that lawmakers approved in 2007. In an effort to raise money without appearing to do so, lawmakers eschewed the simple approach – a gas tax or sales tax increase – and opted for a combination of abusive-driver penalties and regional taxing authorities in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
The punitive driver fees fell under the weight of a grassroots backlash. State residents were angry that the fees didn’t apply to out-of-state motorists. When a governor’s office study indicated the fees had failed to improve safety, it was the final straw. Lawmakers repealed them this year.
The second blow to the funding package came when the courts ruled that the regional transportation authorities amounted to unlawful taxation without representation.
Lawmakers are back at square one – searching for a simple, transparent way to fund the state’s road needs. A special session is expected, but there are no indications of impending agreement.
A small increase in the gas tax remains the most logical way to pay for road construction and repair. If high gas prices make this a politically impossible solution, lawmakers must come up with another straight-forward solution rather than again resorting to gimmicks.
If nothing is done, hundreds of needed projects will fall by the wayside – potentially making the state less safe for motorists. That’s a high price to pay.
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