A real worry

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: June 12, 2008

The governor was in town Saturday to talk about his transportation plan, but Delegate Danny Marshall stole the show.

Marshall spoke briefly about how the Dan River Region would be affected if legislation like House Bill 471 had passed the General Assembly last winter.

The bill, which was supported by 15 Democrats and Republicans from Northern Virginia, would have changed the road construction formula — and taken dollars from rural regions like ours.

“If that ever happens, we’ll be screwed,” Marshall warned. He urged local residents to push for a solution to our state’s road construction crisis before Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads raid rural Virginia for road-building dollars.

Virginia’s roads are busier than ever. While it’s impossible for fast-growing areas to build their way out of traffic jams, the state has tried to work with local governments to coordinate development (a local government responsibility) with road construction (a state job).

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and former Gov. Mark Warner have also worked to make VDOT, the state’s road building agency, much more efficient.

But the bottom line is the same — Virginia still needs more money for roads. If a political solution isn’t found soon, local projects like the new Robertson Bridge — which was supposed to start in 2010 — could be postponed or even cancelled.

“Do we want to complain or do we want to do something,” Kaine asked. “… Let’s try to solve this. We can solve this.”

Or maybe not. The General Assembly appears more inclined to let local governments in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads do the heavy lifting on taxes.

But that didn’t happen when the voters in those two regions were asked to raise their own taxes (they voted no) and it didn’t work when unelected regional authorities were asked to raise taxes (the Virginia Supreme Court ruled the authorities unconstitutional).

During his town hall meeting, Kaine made a perfectly logical argument that taxes and fees the General Assembly was willing to levy on Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads should be paid by the entire state to ensure that projects everywhere stay on track and the cost of maintaining the current system doesn’t take money from needed new projects.

But logic won’t go far in this political environment. The General Assembly is probably more interested in passing the buck to local governments in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads so they can raise their own taxes.

During the town hall meeting, Danville City Councilman David Luther said the Robertson Bridge was critical to the city’s regional hub strategy. “If they can’t cross that bridge, it will be a nightmare,” Luther said of shoppers.

The Dan River Region has a lot to lose when the General Assembly takes up the transportation issue later this month. If they don’t get it right, it might be a long time before a new road is built around here.