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Bob McDonnell is a popular governor. That's no surprise to those who know him. According to a new Quinnipiac University survey, 62 percent of Virginians approve of the job he's doing, up from 55 percent in June.
The General Assembly scored remarkably well, too: 47 percent of Virginians applaud lawmakers' performance, the highest rating in the states Quinnipiac surveyed.
About the only thing in the survey Virginians didn't particularly like is a plan to erect tolls on Interstate 95. Which is curious, because the toll plan is McDonnell's, and the reason for it is a generation's inaction by the General Assembly.
Of the Virginians surveyed, 52 percent disagreed with the tolling plan, which would extract money from drivers in two places on I-95. If Virginians don't like that idea, they're really going to hate what they have to pay to get around Hampton Roads.
At the moment, tolls are a sure thing only at the Midtown Tunnel, at the Downtown Tunnel, on the Martin Luther King Freeway, on the Jordan Bridge and on a new U.S. 460, if it is built.
The tolls range from expensive to punishing, will change development and settlement patterns, will isolate communities from each other, and will exact a disproportionate tax on drivers to ensure a guaranteed profit for large corporations.
And since six governors and 25 years of the General Assembly have utterly failed to properly plan for a core function of government, Hampton Roads will have no choice but to pay up. And pay up. And pay up again.
As frustrating as the coming tolls are to anyone who cares about a politically and economically connected Hampton Roads, the future prospects are worse.
Unless attitudes and policies change in Richmond, unless Hampton Roads starts receiving its fair share of highway money, unless rural lawmakers start to recognize that their economic lives depend on commerce from the coast, the tolls on the immediate horizon will be only the start.
There are no specific plans to toll the harbor crossings, but there's also no reason to expect Richmond will prevent it. So add tolls at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, at the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, at the Patriots Crossing, at the James River Bridge. Expect tolls on I-64. Perhaps on other highways as well.
In the absence of leadership and money, if a road in Hampton Roads is going to be built, or improved, or even adequately maintained, expect to pay a toll.
Virginians don't like the tolls coming on I-95. For good reason. Just wait until they realize what else is coming down the road.
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Incomplete
I notice the Pilot left out the part of the poll that said 60% prefer tolls to a gas tax increase.
Wonder why they left that part out?
Yeah, tolls will help (sarcasm)
I don't understand why anyone who drives around here would think that adding toll booths would be a good thing. One thing is for sure, they won't help traffic (unless they discourage a lot of people from driving). Look, if they need money to build these things, and they need to increase revenue to do it, then get the money from me some other way. Don't make me wait in line, wasting gas, polluting the air, fighting other aggressive and impatient drivers, and increasing hazards in that immediate area (yes, a lot of accidents happen around toll booths). I will pay it at the pump, or I will pay it with my property taxes. But I don't want to pay it at a toll booth. In this day and age, there are many better options than a toll booth. And don't say "EZ Pass". There will still be people that don't have it which will cause backups.
Keep telling the BIG LIE ... (sigh)
The Pilot sure is in the bag for that MASSIVELY EXPENSIVE ($5.5B) so-called "3rd Crossing" for the benefit of the Port of Virginia and the thousands of new trucks they state-woend port wants to flood our local highway system with, for the benefit of politically connected persons that sell concrete, firms that rake in millions for "studies", and firms who build bridge tunnels; not to mention DEVELOPERS salavating at the prospect of opening up new land to the West - cheap land to exploit with new development that could support commuters to the Navy bases if the "3rd Crossing" is built.
Notice in the Pilot's rant the following mention of the the 3rd Crossing (AKA "Patriots Crossing"):
"There are no specific plans to toll the harbor crossings, but there's also no reason to expect Richmond will prevent it. So add tolls at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, at the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, at the Patriots Crossing, at the James River Bridge. Expect tolls on I-64. Perhaps on other highways as well."
Um, ... no, we don't want to waste BILLIONS to build the port a new bridge tunnel. If the Port of Virginia wants a new bridge-tunnel, let the state-owned port pay for it.
The Pilot-has-no-clothes:
THERE IS NO "Patriots Crossing", so the fear mongering Pilot jumps the shark in their campaign of fear by trying to make the case that the evil General Assembly (Republican of course) is going to slap tolls on ... a bridge tunnel that doesn't exist!!! Gasp!
The BIG LIE.
Translation.
The ONLY solution is a higher gas tax, of course.