Buyer's remorse over the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority quieted this week as several bills that threatened to capsize the fledgling road plan flamed out.
With those distractions out of the way, a new conversation is beginning at the Capitol about the importance of constructing a 21st century road network in the region. Some lawmakers from across Virginia have begun to recognize the economic benefits that will ripple out from the Port of Virginia only if it isn't choked by the region's traffic.
Leaders in Hampton Roads must seize this opportunity to articulate the port's $41 billion annual impact on the state's economy. They can't make a strong case for greater state investment in the region's highways, particularly the third bridge-tunnel to the Peninsula, until they're on the same page on transportation.
Friction over road funding in recent years threatened to cleave the state as rural, suburban and urban regions clawed after scarce dollars. That experience convinced some state leaders of the urgent need to fashion a few transportation priorities that can unite the state.
Sen. Creigh Deeds, a Bath County Democrat who wants to be Virginia's next governor, zeroed in on one of those last week. During a Senate Transportation Committee meeting, Deeds made a compelling case that road projects designed to support port commerce should be a state obligation.
From his vantage point in the mountains of Bath County 288 miles away, Deeds can see that a helping hand to Hampton Roads will lift the entire Old Dominion.
Sadly, his point was lost on the audience. It was made in the middle of an intramural scrum about a Peninsula plan to secede from the regional transportation authority.
Why is it left to a senator from Bath County to make the best argument for Hampton Roads? A few local lawmakers have tried, but they've been undercut by their own colleagues bent on revisiting every detail of the compromise adopted last year.
The region's three dozen lawmakers ought to put the past behind them. If they can't agree on the value of these projects to the economy of Hampton Roads, then how can they expect lawmakers to see how important they are to the rest of the state?
There are sympathetic ears at the Capitol already prepared to listen.
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Madness
Let's just toll every driveway! Taxpayers are the loosers here. Anyone that thinks this will work smoothly is foolish. The General Assembly will blame this new illegal aurthority when problems arise. They'll wine about local control and avoid all blame at the same time! And what is really sad is that the OP ED staff will continue to maintain that for a few billion dollars more our problems will be solved.
Perhaps many of the sadly
Perhaps many of the sadly angry and disaffected posters to pilotonline will acknowledge that the leadership of the General Assembly, the Governor, and the majority of the Commissioners of the HRTA have no intention of going backwards into the chaos and uncertainty of last year in regard to the package of regional projects now approved and soon to be funded. For now, crying in your beer won't work; it's done, and it is not going to change. Now, after a decade of neglect, denial, and head buried in the sand "leadership" we can finally get on with improving our transportation system. The increased cost to do this is a legacy of the Wardrup, Joannou, Gear, Allen, and Gilmore era, when it was fashionable to tell citizens everything was fine, no problem, we've got it covered, let's cut some more taxes, it will be OK. It was never true, and the failure to comprehend the need by these and others represents a monumental failure of leadership. Crumbling highways and abandoned bridges represent the price of failure.
Agree with ray..
It is the way that the HRTA was created. Every City Councilperson and Mayor that voted for this should be voted out. HRTA is taxation without representation.
Unhappy!
I've not heard a lot opposition to taxes to build roads. Everyone knows the need is there. It's the manner in which our politicians created this unconstitutional regional authority that has our citizens complaining. Besides not being constitutional, it's not very cost effective. It appears that this authority was created by our representatives who have put their party before needs of the people and the commonwealth itself. Sounds to me like a fairly common practice in today's political arena. Sounds sick to me!