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Heavy traffic heads east on State Route 610, North Stafford's main artery. The region's transportation crisis prompted local officials and businessmen to meet yesterday in Fredericksburg. |
With little state money available for new transportation projects, the Fredericksburg region needs to band together and seek local solutions to its transportation problems.
That was the gist of the message at a transportation conference held yesterday by the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The conference drew businesspeople and local government officials from the area to hear Virginia Transportation Commissioner Philip Shucet and others discuss the state's transportation situation. They met at the Holiday Inn Select in Fredericksburg's Central Park.
Chamber President Linda Worrell said the chamber held the conference to find a way to focus its efforts. The region's transportation problems, and finding a solution to them, is the chamber's top priority, she said, because congested roads affect commerce.
"To say there's no money, therefore there's no solution, is not reasonable," Worrell said.
Having the region's leaders and transportation groups--such as the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization--on the same page as far as the region's transportation needs is key to finding a solution, said panelists at the conference.
"We're suffocating from a transportation standpoint in this area," said Commonwealth Transportation Board member Ambrose Bailey of Fredericksburg. "We can all work together. The money has got to come more locally, and I am so frustrated with that."
Shucet said the situation with the state's road and transit system is beyond crisis.
"I seriously worry that we might have let the crisis lapse into a dangerous decline downward," he said.
Shucet explained that this year, the state is spending $1.3 billion on maintenance of existing roads, and less than $800 million is going into new construction projects. With maintenance growing at 4 percent a year, the problem will only be worse next year. By fiscal 2010, Shucet said, less than $500 million probably will be going to new construction, if the transportation program remains on its current path.
That's hurting the industries, like construction companies, that get a lot of their business from VDOT, Shucet said. "We're disinvesting in transportation in Virginia," he said.
Putting more money into transportation is the most obvious solution, but how much--and where to get it--is a thorny issue that's likely to dominate the upcoming legislative session.
Things like public-private partnerships to build roads, letting local governments take control of secondary roads, and other ideas are all "nibbling around the crust of the piece of pie of you're not going to talk about increasing revenue for transportation," Shucet said.
He added that he hopes lawmakers will have a serious discussion soon--if not this session, then one in the near future. And he advised the chamber members in the audience to start having the conversation about transportation needs in their communities.
"Sooner or later, folks like yourselves aren't going to just come to these meetings and talk," Shucet said. "You will demand that people take action. Otherwise, this story's not going to change [and] neither will transportation service without an additional influx of revenue."
While raising the gasoline tax is a possible source of more revenue for transportation, no one has formally proposed an increase, and many House Republicans are opposed to any more tax increases.
Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, was part of the panel discussion yesterday, and he said there are ways to get more money for transportation without raising taxes.
Specifically, he mentioned a proposal from House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, to divert vehicle-insurance premium taxes to the transportation trust fund. Those taxes now go into the state's general fund, Cole said.
During a break in the meeting, Cole said that would generate about the same amount of money as a 3- to 4-cent increase in the gasoline tax.
Cole noted the state is expected to have a surplus of about $900 over expected revenues this year, and said transportation should be the top priority for that money.
Any surplus monies already are allocated to other programs, and last week House Appropriations Committee Chairman Vince Callahan, R-McLean, warned against eyeing the surplus as a source of funding for anything beyond a few specified programs.
But Cole sees it differently.
"We can reallocate it," he said yesterday. "Transportation is the No. 1 priority. The problem isn't that Richmond isn't collecting enough money, it's that we're not spending it right. I don't think you're going to see a tax increase this year, and I don't think you're going to see it in the foreseeable future."
Asked by the chamber panel what people can do to encourage lawmakers to focus on transportation, Cole advised them to call their legislators.
He also said the legislature needs to give local governments tools to handle the transportation problems brought on by growth.
Local governments cannot levy impact fees on developers without the legislature's express permission. Nor can they limit growth based on the amount of public utilities, including roads and schools, that are available.
The General Assembly must pass specific legislation in order for localities to do either of those things.
Stafford County is one exception, having already received permission to charge impact fees.
To reach CHELYEN DAVIS: 804/782-9362 cdavis@freelancestar.com
