A question of fairness

By Art Collins

I've read with interest the recent comments by Virginia's secretary of transportation, Sean Connaughton, regarding tolls on U.S. 460 and the proposed Elizabeth River Crossings.

First, a little history about how the rest of Virginia, especially the General Assembly, views Hampton Roads transportation needs.

It has been the fate of those of us in this region to have tolls pay for all our major water crossings. They include the original Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the James River Bridge, the Jordan Bridge, the Virginia Beach Expressway, the York River Crossing as well as the Downtown and Midtown tunnels.

We are still paying for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and the Chesapeake Expressway and will soon be paying tolls for the new Jordan Bridge.

Nowhere else in Virginia are tolls used to such an extent to construct roads. Now the state plans to toll the Midtown/Martin Luther King Freeway and Downtown tunnels to construct another Midtown tube and refurbish the Downtown.

According to news reports, there will be a $1.84 one-way toll for personal vehicles ($3.68 a day and about $73.60 a month).

Many people will recall we had a referendum in 2002 to raise the sales tax by 1 percentage point. It failed.

If it hadn't,

the region would have been able to construct not only the Midtown/MLK tube but also I-64 on the Peninsula to Williamsburg, a new High Rise Bridge and improvements to Bowers Hill, the Third Crossing and U.S. 460 as well as transit improvements, all without tolls.

That 1 percent increase in the sales tax (food and drugs were exempt) would cost each person in Hampton Roads about $60 a year. Compare that to the $73 a month for just the Midtown/MLK improvement.

My point is this: If the state is going to mandate a toll, which is a tax, without a referendum, why not mandate a sales tax and fix all our major transportation deficiencies? Or at least lower the tolls to something less onerous, like the 70 cents for the Powhite Parkway in Richmond?

Apparently hidden in this proposed deal is the fact that these tolls also will have to pay for the operation and maintenance of the facilities.

The rest of the commonwealth gets its operations and maintenance paid out of the state transportation accounts. So Hampton Roads drivers will pay to maintain facilities in our region as well as the rest of the state through the existing gas tax and other fees.

Virginia found the funds to pay its share of the $2.4 billion Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Northern Virginia without tolls - and, yes, we in Hampton Roads will contribute to maintain it. The final insult is the secretary of transportation's comment that any profits coming from the tolls on the Midtown and Downtown tunnels will go to the state, not Hampton Roads. Aren't we generous?

As to the guaranteed annual minimum toll increase of 3.5 percent, these days wouldn't we all like to see our business or salary be guaranteed a minimum increase of 3.5 percent a year?

The transportation secretary says this deal is a "good investment." The question is for whom? Maybe Wall Street. It is certainly not the always-tolled residents of Hampton Roads.

Someday a Virginia governor and General Assembly will have to address transportation problems and responsibly raise statewide revenue in some fashion. After all, it has been 25 years since Virginia raised funds for transportation.

Until then, Hampton Roads residents will be stuck with paying for the construction and maintenance of its own facilities as well as the others across the state. It is a question of fairness.

Notwithstanding the transportation secretary's tactics to extract $5 million annually from the Port Authority to help pay for U.S. 460 and the threat to walk away from Hampton Roads if we do not buy into his deal, the people of our region need to understand that this is only the beginning of another effort to make another generation of residents pay for our needed facilities while the rest of the Virginia gets theirs without tolls.

Art Collins served as the executive director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission and Metropolitan Planning Organization for more than 38 years, retiring in 2008. He lives in Suffolk.