A transportation reality check
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A deal by state legislators contains some beneficial provisions, but it cuts into funding for other government services.
A transportation deal brokered by legislators this week is superior to one handed to them last month by Gov. Bob McDonnell. It does less harm to the Roanoke and New River valleys, yet it is far from harmless.
The question now facing delegates and senators is whether to support the compromise as the best they can hope to achieve. We conclude that it is, but not without regret.
February 22, 2013 - 6:22 AM
If the GA and Governor would spend the current gasoline tax money collected on buiding and maintaining our road system and not spend it on every whim and fantasy that comes up we would not be having this discussion….the current plan is horrible and shows little if any thought about the problem or solution….just another tax increase…..with nothing being accomplished….the current gasoline tax generates approximately $700 million per year….a lot of road maintenance and construction if this money was used effectively….
$700 million won’t even cover the cost of one major bridge, tunnel or interstate widening project.
Even small bridge replacement jobs can cost 2-3 million dollars, it is ludicrous to think 700 million is “enough” for all of the road and bridge work this state needs, not wants, needs!
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Like a lot of other issues, it has been left to fester and worsen instead of being faced and dealt with.
We’re talking $700M annually, not as a one time shot. It starts to become a logistics issue…executing $700M in construction projects in one year can be difficult, even if the projects are already identified and ear-marked, contracts have to be let and awarded, someone at VDOT has to provide contract and project management, there are inevitably delays and cost overruns, many unavoidable (those due to weather, for example), not all road and bridge contractors provide the same quality of work, etc.
Anyone know how much road construction Virginia has executed annually over the past several years?
So it seems the Governor can come up with some idea that is completely insane like replacing the gas tax with a higher sales tax, and then the legislature has to “compromise” with that.
VDOT works on a “Six Year Plan”. McDonnell has proposed “$1.8 billion in bonds to fund road projects across Virginia over the next three years”.
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http://syip.virginiadot.org/Pages/allProjects.aspx
The $700 million…isn’t this just the newly adjusted revenue stream, and not additional funding? The fuels tax would go away, and that provides about the same amount, if I recall correctly. It just shifts the source of that money…and doesn’t really fix anything.
“a lot of road maintenance and construction if this money was used effectively….”
jogger, it’s not enough to keep up just with maintenance.
gdad, and don’t forget, that level of funding is having trouble keeping up with a maintenance schedule that has already been dramatically cut back. VDOT doesn;t mow nearly as often, they don’t cut bruch like they used to, they don’t clean out ditches and culverts as regularly as they once did, re-pave as frequently, and don’t do a smorgasbord of other routine maintenance like is generally recommended to help prolong the life of the infrastructure. Net result, instead of a small annual maintenance budget for particular facilities, we wind up spending nothing on maintenance, then 10 years later spending millions to replace or substantially overhaul something that failed prematurely…hardly a wise use of funds.