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Have
you ever attended a Virginia Department of
Transportation "citizens meeting"?
That's
not a public hearing, but citizen meetings frequently
are mistaken as the same.
VDOT,
the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and
other state entities accommodate these citizen meetings
prior to public hearings, but these dog and pony shows
don't hold the same legal precedence.
It's
an easy out.
Local
county and city officials skirt the rules all the time
when requesting public comment.
Did
you realize that minutes from public hearings could be
used as a legally binding court record, while citizen
meetings are basically verbal free-for-alls for
politicians and state bureaucrats?
In
other words, anything goes - because it's not part of
the public record.
For
example: Last year when the Virginia public was treated
to so-called tax reform, citizens meetings were held
around the Commonwealth with lots of political spin and
no accountability concerning those tax-increasing
remarks - unless the press caught wind of a 15-second
sound-bite gaffe.
But
most of the negative comments are not reported either.
Gov.
Mark R. Warner and his cronies have made political hay
with citizen meetings in the past. Don't expect real
budget numbers, for example. Most often, the
pre-scripted advocates will benefit from the legislative
actions, such as teachers and other state employees who
benefited from last year's tax increase. Citizens
meetings become tearful, emotional passion plays for
these folks.
But
VDOT broke that mold with reference to citizen meetings,
and set that standard several decades ago.
VDOT
road shows are showcases for future road construction.
Typically,
road shows are elaborate affairs with multicolored
handouts, computer-generated charts and poster-sized
aerial photographs that form large circles (aka
beltways) - and a circus-like atmosphere to guide the
public through the probable future construction.
The
Blue Dog says "probable" because these
projects are going to happen, no matter the public
outcry and citizen petitions and political-regime
changeovers.
It's
like going to a Roads-R-Us department store.
Road
plans never disappear -- they evolve and morph into
new road plans. VDOT simply and ultimately resurrects
those road plans - using language suited best for the
public's consumption at the time, such as a
"scenic" parkway,
"environment-friendly" road or
"high-tech" highway.
(Oh
yeah, folks! "High-tech" often means cameras
that are installed at interchanges accompanied by
digital electronic signage, which cost you, the
taxpayers, bundles of cash.)
At
these road shows, there are several VDOT assistants,
road engineers and probably a few media-relations
personnel stationed strategically at each info stop - in
order to guide citizens attending the meeting through
the maze. It's usually a three-to-one ratio for
disseminating the information to the public.
The
traffic data is for the most part, skewed or outdated, and
obviously -- and I mean more than obviously -- slanted
to promote the benefits of expanding and construction
the building of new roads.
The
message is build
the road now, because it's going to cost more and more
in the future.
Trouble
is, that logic is flawed.
If
you construct a road, whether the public needs it, or
not, the vehicle traffic will increase along with urban
sprawl that the roads promulgate, and guess what, folks?
Sooner or later, you need to widen that road or
construct another road system to alleviate that
challenge.
The
general public likes to make light of transportation
workers who flag traffic as several road repair workers
fix a small pothole - while 20 other workers either
stand around smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee and
sitting on the back of pickups making small talk.
But
let's be honest and leave the blue-collar workers alone.
The
real VDOT bureaucracy are in the business of building
roads.
And
that's what is wasting your dollars!
At
these road-show kiosks, VDOT engineers often represent
the only opposition to alternative road plans,
especially those plans presented to the engineers from
environmental- and community-
advocacy organizations.
No
doubt, unproven road theories and public mass-transit
schemes can be dangerous experiments for career VDOT
bureaucrats who cater to road-construction interests.
VDOT engineers tend to blame much of the extra road
costs to environmental and traffic-safety laws, which
serve the greater public interests.
Playing
it safe with 1950s beltway and bypass methodology is a
losing proposition for the Commonwealth with
transportation planning and construction of these roads
- which only hastens urban growth and promulgates the
need to build more and more roads.
It
doesn’t work, and VDOT engineers can't admit to that
fact.
Call
and Response
"I
think your premise is a bit over the top, but I
certainly understand your concern," commented VDOT
commissioner Philip Shucet.
Shucet
said, "We’ve grown beyond 'highway-only'
solutions and are working closely with the Department of
Rail and Public Transportation to strengthen our
multimodal planning skills. Last year, we gave eight
VDOT positions to DRPT specifically for the purpose of
helping them beef up their planning staff. In short, we
know that all modes have to be carefully considered in
searching for transportation solutions."
Shucet
elaborated on effective transportation solutions:
"But we still have to pay attention to highway
improvements. While vehicle miles traveled have grown by
over 70 percent since 1986, lane miles have only grown
by 5 percent. That says something right there.
Meanwhile, automobile ownership continues to grow, as do
the number of automobile trips people take. We have to
deal with the fact that nearly 91 percent of all
home-to-work trips take place in a car.
"About
87 percent of all daily trips take place in a car.
Whether we like that or not, as a government agency we
have to respond to that demand," Shucet said.
The
Blue Dog questions ... why does VDOT keep traveling down
a road to ruin, instead of proactive, alternative
transportation planning?
Shucet
commented about VDOT's long-range planning: "We do
have a responsibility to look at innovative ways to move
more trips to other modes other than the automobile. We
are doing that through a long-range planning process (VTrans
2025) that involves all state transportation agencies
being managed from the secretary’s office."
Long-range
planning is one issue that needs to be addressed in the
2005 transportation debate in the General Assembly.
Another involves the issue of whether or not the state
needs to raise taxes to accommodate the traffic-network
needs.
VDOT
needs to continually raise the bar, and expectations for
sensible transportation solutions that are both
affordable, and sustainable.
Trip
Pollard, the senior attorney and policy advocate with
the Charlottesville-based Southern Environmental Law
Center, agreed, and commented, "There is increasing
recognition of the limitations of an asphalt-only
transportation approach."
Pollard
then optimistically cautioned, "The Governor, the
Secretary of Transportation, the VDOT Commissioner, the
Commonwealth Transportation Board and General Assembly
members of both parties have recognized the need for a
more balanced transportation system, and some positive
changes have been made. Most of these changes, however,
have been modest, and it seems that many decision makers
and VDOT engineers have never met a highway proposal
they didn’t like."
Virginia
lawmakers simply can't allow their historical and scenic
landscapes to become a sea of asphalt.
We
just can't allow that to happen - but what are the
alternatives?
Pollard
said, "There are a range of innovative, practical
alternatives capable of addressing almost any
transportation problem. These alternatives frequently do
not rest on unproven theories; they are systems,
technologies, or strategies that have been successfully
developed and implemented elsewhere.
"What
has been proven is that the 'beltway and bypass'
approach doesn’t work well."
--
November 15, 2004
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