Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s post-storm “pothole” blitz” marks an approach to transportation defined by highly visible but small-ticket fixes, reflecting a dearth of revenues and ongoing legislative stalemate over highway funding.
The new governor’s two most noticed endeavors — patching more than 120,000 potholes and reopening 19 rest stops shuttered by the Kaine administration — fall outside the broader crisis of bottlenecked traffic and ballooning maintenance costs. McDonnell declined to address transportation during the 2010 legislative session, and has said he will call a special session only if he believes it won’t become an exercise in futility.
The rest stops were closed to save $9 million a year. Mothballing the facilities “was symbolic of the dire situation the transportation program was in,” said Bob Chase, president of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance.
“It may well be good politics in the general sense [to reopen the stops], but the real measure of that action will be what happens next to address the real problem,” said Chase. “The restrooms weren’t the problem, they were representative of the problem.”
Legislators have locked horns for years on raising new money for transportation, while the state’s highway planning panel has lopped more than $4.6 billion in funding since spring 2008.
McDonnell campaigned with a lofty package of transportation fixes that include selling off the state’s liquor monopoly and earmarking proceeds from offshore drilling. The latter saw a boost last week with the Obama administration’s decision to open up an area 50 miles off Virginia’s coast to energy exploration, although it will take years to realize any potential royalties.
Virginia is expected to issue about $500 million in transportation bonds later this year, which Del. Tim Hugo, R-Centreville, pointed to as a bright spot.
“I think there are some good things in [the budget] for transportation,” said Hugo, a member of the House Transportation Committee. “I think we need to do more … it’s an unending challenge here in Northern Virginia, especially.”
