Another reason to put roads & rail first
Virginias highway construction fund is teetering on the edge of insolvency and businesses will be reluctant to relocate to Virginia if roads remain clogged. In TV ads and stump speeches Terry R. McAuliffe one of the Democratic candidates for governor in Virginia has drilled home the point that Gov. Timothy M. Kaines successor needs to be a jobs governor. An alarming presentation yesterday by state Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer shows that what Virginia needs first and foremost is a roads and rail governor.
The numbers are both stark and startling: The states six-year construction budget for highways rail and public transit has lost an eye-popping $4.1 billion -- or more than one-third of its value -- in just two years in large part because gas tax revenue has dropped precipitously.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has shed hundreds of employees and been reduced to maintaining roads instead of building them.
The ramifications are enormous: Virginia will lose out on untold millions in federal dollars for lack of matching funds the quality of roads and bridges will further deteriorate and congestion will worsen.
Even attracting public-private partnerships will be a challenge without adequate seed money.
Mr. McAuliffe boasts that hell be able to pay for his expansive promises such as his pledge to pay off teachers mortgages and loans by luring businesses to the commonwealth. Leave aside for a moment that Virginia is already a business-friendly right-to-work state and that Mr. Kaine (D) and his predecessor Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) are well-liked by business leaders.
To be credible any promise to create jobs must be predicated on a statewide transportation plan.
*This story is from the Washington Post
Virginias highway construction fund is teetering on the edge of insolvency and businesses will be reluctant to relocate to Virginia if roads remain clogged. In TV ads and stump speeches Terry R. McAuliffe one of the Democratic candidates for governor in Virginia has drilled home the point that Gov. Timothy M. Kaines successor needs to be a jobs governor. An alarming presentation yesterday by state Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer shows that what Virginia needs first and foremost is a roads and rail governor.
The numbers are both stark and startling: The states six-year construction budget for highways rail and public transit has lost an eye-popping $4.1 billion -- or more than one-third of its value -- in just two years in large part because gas tax revenue has dropped precipitously.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has shed hundreds of employees and been reduced to maintaining roads instead of building them.
The ramifications are enormous: Virginia will lose out on untold millions in federal dollars for lack of matching funds the quality of roads and bridges will further deteriorate and congestion will worsen.
Even attracting public-private partnerships will be a challenge without adequate seed money. 
Mr. McAuliffe boasts that hell be able to pay for his expansive promises such as his pledge to pay off teachers mortgages and loans by luring businesses to the commonwealth. Leave aside for a moment that Virginia is already a business-friendly right-to-work state and that Mr. Kaine (D) and his predecessor Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) are well-liked by business leaders.
To be credible any promise to create jobs must be predicated on a statewide transportation plan.
*This story is from the Washington Post
