| An
End Run on Roads |
| Well, the General Assembly beat my skeptical prediction
that it would finish the year without a transportation plan
by squeaking through legislation last week that falls short
of giving the state a long-term solution to road woes. |
| The legislators didn't appropriate a large amount of money
to make a dent in the many transportation projects that should
be a priority in Northern Virginia. They didn't increase taxes
to fund transportation projects for decades to come. |
| What they did do was enable other people to work on the
problem. That's a start, albeit not exactly what I was expecting
from the General Assembly. |
| The plan, which has yet to be signed by Gov. Tim Kaine (and
he's said he's not sure he will sign it), provides for $250
million per year from the general fund for transportation.
That money will be put to good use for transportation, but
it hardly begins to address the estimated billions of dollars
needed to get the state, and especially the Northern Virginia
area, ahead of traffic growth. |
| The most enticing component of the new plan is that localities
will have the power to initiate a 1 percent tax to fund transportation
improvements. The reason that's so great is that for the first
time in Virginia history in puts the localities in charge
of setting and funding their own transportation priorities
instead of waiting for folks in Richmond to do it for them. |
| While it's completely unclear that the transportation plan
as approved will be more than just something the politicians
can take to the polls with them, at least they had the sense
to pass the ball to someone else who may be able to get the
job done. |
