By Josh Brown
The Hampton Roads Partnership has helped launch a low-budget Internet campaign in an attempt to rally public support behind public roads projects as the General Assembly meets in a special session on road spending.
The partnership, a coalition of business, political and academic leaders, joined with two other groups - the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance and the Washington Airports Task Force - to launch the roads campaign.
E. Dana Dickens, the partnership's president and chief executive, said the groups want to educate the public about the economic impact of the port of Hampton Roads and Dulles International Airport.
"These two economic engines are being strangled by congestion," Dickens said.
The campaign's Web site, BeatTheGridlock.com, has gotten about 2,400 hits since it was launched two weeks ago. A related four-minute video, posted on YouTube, has been viewed nearly 700 times.
The Web site and video urge Virginians to ask their state legislators to pump money into projects that would address traffic problems. The House and Senate are scheduled to reconvene Wednesday.
The partnership is pushing for the state to fund six projects, mostly at congested water crossings, including the long-sought third bridge-tunnel linking South Hampton Roads and the Peninsula, to improve the region's transportation network and relieve congestion.
Dickens said the port of Hampton Roads could lose business to other ports along the East Coast, such as Savannah and New York, if nothing is done to fix the congestion.
The groups estimate the traffic is threatening the creation of about 375,000 jobs and $1.37 billion in state and local tax revenue.
Though the campaign focuses on the economic harm that comes from traffic, Dickens said local drivers also would reap the benefits of lower congestion.
He said it will be hard for the groups to judge whether the new campaign, which cost about $2,500, has been a success.
"If we are able to get a transportation solution, you can't say this video was the only reason we got it," he said. "It's a cumulative effect. We're always pushing."
Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com
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taxes
It's amazing to me that the governor says we have to cut back on spending, even local officials say the same thing, but yet every year the state and local budget continue to get larger and larger. So how about using the extra money for roads. On top of that we Virginia did away with the car tax, now we add a licencing fee, raise the cost of state inspection and the cost to register your vehicle. Think we have raised fees and other taxes enough to pay for this. The fact that Virginia did not use the increase in military personel against the government to get more road funding in this area to cover the increase in conjestion is it own fault. NO NEW TAXES OR FEES!!!
BILCO
I guess you think that the population & tax base hasn't increased since 1986. I beg to differ w/you on this. I know the population has risen & the tax $$'s have too. I say we should stick to these #'s because as gas prices rise drivers will be leaving the roads, lessoning congestion as we go. And, you always have the ability to fix the transportation problem yourself, MOVE CLOSER TO WORK, CARPOOL, USE PUBLIC TRANSPOTATION, but do not raise my taxes &/or tack on additional fees, they're just the same as taxes just a different name. And, I'm tired of these guys always trying to slip their hands in my pockets, that's always their answer to any $$ shortfall. How about cutting back the give away programs & reallocate those dollars. Be creative but keep it simple & I think more people will listen to that instead of tax this, add this fee etc. etc. etc....
ROAD TAXES
Like 'BILCO' I also think people should pay for new roads if they want them. I'm sure he would agree that someone in western Virginia shouldn't be asked to pay for new roads in the eastern part of the state. The gas tax, which is a statewide tax, should only be used for road maintenance. If a new road is needed in tidewater then the only true user tax used to pay for it should be a toll. Does this solution make too much sense?
"Partnership" needs to loose their tax funding!
When will this business lobby be stripped of our tax dollars???? It is outragious how tax funds are abused to promote the business agenda already rejected at the ballot box in our region! This is just another bite at the same apple by the rejected YES Campaign - and the Hampton Roads Partnership collects tax funds to pay for their propagda campaigns.
Its way past time to pay our way
You pay to maintain your homes & cars don’t you? And you pay to replace or upgrade out of date, worn out, or consumed items you own (food, clothing, TVs, etc). Each time you do that, you spend money to pay at current prices & you do that with current pay rates. Wel, go figure. Roads wear out too! And as people have babies & they grow into adults, they want cars too. That further increases demand & overloads existing roads.
GET IT THRU YOUR THICK HEAD. THE 17.5 CENT GAS TAX HAS NOT KEPT UP WITH INFLATION & IS INSUFFICIENT TO MEET DEMAND. You could not live on what you earned in 1986. That is what you expect the state to do & it is absurdly unreasonable. RAISE the tax & PAY YOUR WAY. If you don’t like paying more for roads, get out of your car, quit your job & stop eating. Everything you do depends on those roads.
wrong!!
and where did the funding come from for this propaganda website??...the taxpayers pocket! And if you think this is wrong (or hilarious) wait until the Virginia Beach Resort Advisory Commission show us "The Gift Of Tourism"....taxpayer funded websites to argue against the already expressed will of the people, pathetic..
Your tax money at work
The political Partnership uses your money to try to convince you to tell the state to take more of your money. The partnership is made up of business and political leaders. The Executive Committee includes all of the same politicians who run the HRPDC, the MPO, and the unconstitutionally inspired HR transportation authority. By using this partnership, the politicians are circumventing the state constitution's role of public office to back door an agenda for which the citizens disapprove.