With road plan, McDonnell gears up race

RICHMOND

In releasing a far-reaching transportation plan Tuesday, Bob McDonnell has taken a step toward defining the battle lines on the topic as the race for governor heads to the fall.

The package envisions adding tolls on two highways that connect North Carolina to Virginia, raising interstate speed limits to 70 mph, and fast-tracking projects such as expanding U.S. 460, widening Interstate 64, and creating a third bridge-tunnel linking South Hampton Roads and the Peninsula by leveraging private builders to do the work.

Accomplishing all that won't be easy, however.

In some cases, McDonnell would need a cooperative legislature and approval from federal agencies.

His plan borrows from failed legislative proposals of the past - it suggests raising money for roads by privatizing state Alcoholic Beverage Control stores and taking future tax revenues from the ports.

Other anticipated transportation funds hinge on federal action. McDonnell wants permission to spend stimulus money programmed for other uses on roads, and he is counting on royalties from offshore energy drilling that hasn't yet been authorized.

The Republican says he is using "creativity and innovation to fund the key priority" of transportation by relying on new and surplus revenues, not existing money earmarked for other core services.

His Democratic detractors insist the plan is more shell game than solution.

"We're not going to rob Peter to pay Paul by taking money away from the schoolchildren of Virginia, which is what Bob McDonnell's plan would do," said Jared Leopold, a spokesman for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, state Sen. Creigh Deeds.

McDonnell wants to provide Hampton Roads officials with a portion of future revenue growth at the port, capping it at $300 million annually. By one estimate, the port generates $1.2 billion annually in state and local tax revenues, some of which go into the state general fund to support government services.

Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax County, said McDonnell's plan to pay for roads without raising new money is unrealistic.

"He's saying, 'I don't have to raise taxes. I can take it from public schools, higher education, health and human resources and the State Police,' " Saslaw said. "What Bob is hoping is he can find a highway contractor who will pour roads for free, but it ain't going to happen."

Monday, Deeds released an economic proposal that detailed his conceptual transportation plan. Among other ideas, the proposal advocates investments in rail and other multi-modal transit, and port enhancements. But aside from pledging to tackle transportation in his first year as governor, Deeds has been reluctant to wed himself to a specific funding approach, preferring to first build a consensus.

McDonnell called that "a non-plan."

A spokesman for the Republican said Deeds is intentionally being vague so he can "get in office and then raise taxes."

"It's a wish list of ideas with not a dime of money to actually fund a transportation plan," McDonnell added. "That's not how we're going to solve our transportation issues in Virginia."

Saslaw continues to believe a gas-tax increase is an ideal fix to the road funding problem. Legislation he introduced in 2008 to that effect passed the Senate - Deeds supported the plan - but died in the House of Delegates.

McDonnell rolled out his plan in Northern Virginia on Tuesday morning, then discussed it with reporters on a conference call shortly after noon.

He criticized the state for failing to issue roughly $3 billion in bonds approved by the legislature in 2007 as part of a road funding deal and said he would support $1 billion more in debt to fund projects in congested areas.

The 2007 package received the blessing of then-Attorney General McDonnell and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who amended it, but was ultimately dismantled by a state Supreme Court decision that ruled some of its components unconstitutional.

Because of the economic downturn, the state pushed back the scheduled sale of the bonds until this year to build up the money needed to pay back loans.

McDonnell also favors boosting the speed limit on more stretches of Virginia interstates to 70 mph, noting that 32 other states have similar highway standards.

Since the federal interstate speed limit was abolished in the mid-1990s, altering interstate speeds is largely a state decision. Changes in highway speeds require approval from the General Assembly, which typically relies on the opinions of traffic experts to determine whether the increase is safe.

Martha Meade, a AAA Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman, said the idea "is worth consideration."

Getting clearance to toll Interstates 85 and 95 could prove to be a more difficult task.

Federal government permission is needed before tolls can be enacted, and a condition of approval is often that work is being done to improve the road.

McDonnell wants to pump that toll revenue into improvements along I-95 and U.S. 460.

His plan also calls for an independent audit of the Virginia Department of Transportation to find waste and improve agency efficiency.

In the state's two most populous regions, McDonnell would allow Northern Virginia to keep a slice of local sales taxes to pay for roads, and in Hampton Roads he wants to push the U.S. 460, I-64 and third-crossing projects as priorities.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com