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Consider
two quotes regarding Virginia's disjointed
transportation planning. One comes from Philip
Shucet, commissioner of the Virginia Department of
Transportation, the other from Trip Pollard, a
policy advocate for the Southern Environmental Law
Center. Your job is to match each observer with the
correct quote:
Quote
1: "A lack of coordinated land-use and
transportation planning is a problem. That puts all
of us - state and local government - on notice that
we have to do better. ... Without [better]
coordination, the best we can hope for is band-aid
fixes. Even more frightening, however, is the
reality that without better planning, we'll just
make the matters worse."
Quote
2: "A road
solution can be the best solution to a particular
transportation problem, but often it is not.
...
Virginia has a
poor track record of considering alternatives to new
and wider roads, alternatives that often are less
expensive, less destructive and more effective."
Not
much sunlight shines between the two. For what it's
worth, in interviews with the Blue Dog in the past
month, Shucet said the first and Pollard the second.
The problem in Virginia isn't whether the guys in
charge understand the nature of the problem. It's
how they apply their
abstract principles to nitty-gritty, real-world
situations.
Take
the example of U.S. 29 north of Charlottesville, one
of the most congested lengths of highway in the
state. Overzealous
Republican legislators in the General Assembly
attempted earlier this year to circumvent local
government with a proposal to build a U.S. 29 bypass
around the city of Charlottesville and into the
rural countryside of Albemarle County.
Here's
Pollard's take: "There
is clearly a congestion problem on Route 29 north of
Charlottesville, but the proposed bypass will cost
at least $40 million a mile and do little to address
that problem, while threatening the area’s primary
drinking water supply, spurring sprawl and harming
the region’s quality of life.
"This
boondoggle has been ranked among the most wasteful
and destructive projects in the entire
country," Pollard says. "One of the many
flaws of the bypass proposal is that it fails to
address the root of the congestion problem in that
area - local traffic.
"Other
road projects would do far more to address this
problem and should be part of the solution. For
example, building overpasses at key intersections
would separate much of the local traffic from Route
29, eliminating several long stoplights. In
addition, creating a better network of streets could
get more local traffic off of Route 29 by giving
people an alternative way to reach many
destinations.
"These
road solutions need to be supplemented by other
solutions - particularly mass transit,
transportation demand management and better land-use
decisions - but they are a critical part of the
solution," he adds.
Shucet,
for his part, is not quite so forthright. He doesn't
want to "debate anyone’s wisdom regarding
legislation" with respect to the bypass
legislation, he says.
"The
Route 29 bypass is a good example of a lack of
coordination between land-use and transportation
planning," he says. "As it stands now, if
the bypass were built, it would begin and end in
congestion. I'll let you draw your own conclusion
from that. If we're going to do something for the
Route 29 corridor, we need to do something that
really addresses congestion."
The
rest of the story
Is
there more to the story? Pollard says, yes. "The
relationships between transportation and land use
are complex and multifaceted. Gov. [Mark R.] Warner
and Commissioner Shucet deserve credit for
recognizing the critical link between transportation
and land-use planning. However, we must be sure to
look at both sides of the equation. Sprawling
development patterns are a primary reason for the
tremendous rise in congestion and driving in
Virginia, and localities deserve a lot of the blame
for excessive growth and traffic problems.
"However,
there also is no question that roads are a primary
influence on the shape and pace of
development," Pollard says. "Roads can be
a major factor causing excessive growth and traffic.
By opening new areas to development and making it
cheaper and easier to develop and live further from
existing communities, new and expanded roadways have
spurred both sprawl and driving.
"Unless
the state and localities do far more to link
transportation and land use, much of our
transportation spending will continue to be
wasted," Pollard says.
"Potential
measures include enabling localities to adopt more
effective growth laws and policies that can
revitalize our cities and towns and give us better
designed communities, requiring state assessment of
the land-use impacts of major transportation
projects and local assessment of the transportation
impacts of major development projects, targeting
transportation spending to existing communities,
funding projects that can increase and preserve the
capacity of new and existing roads, and providing
technical assistance to localities to help promote
transit-oriented development," Pollard says.
The
Blue Dog is confused, because local planners and
elected officials were totally set adrift on that
decision. While the lieutenant governor is
advocating more local control.
The
Blue Dog says, throw the citizens a life-jacket
solution, not a free pass for road contractors to
build a bypass.
How
about Sen. John Chichester's pet project - the
Fredericksburg bypass?
"The
Fredericksburg Metropolitan Planning Organization
has removed the Fredericksburg project, known as the
Outer Connector, from the local transportation
plan," Shucet says. "That puts an end to
any further planning for this project. We cannot
expend monies on projects that are not included in
an MPO's fiscally constrained plan."
According
to a recent Free Lance-Star editorial,
"The Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance
estimates that Virginians waste $4.4 billion
annually due to traffic congestion and accidents.
The population growth in our area and the increased
through-traffic we're seeing are here to stay. Local
officials should act, with public support, using
Virginia's Public-Private Partnership Transportation
Act or other creative financing opportunities, to
de-clog our arteries. New roads, built wisely, will
help the quality of life in our region."
But
building more roads, such as the Fredericksburg
bypass, is not a long-term transportation fix. It's
more than obvious that pro-growth advocates need
accessibility to low-cost agriculture land, and new
roads are that means of transportation.
The
Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce and Chichester
obviously want and need the commissioner to fix the
clogged roadways of that old Virginia city.
Is
that the best transportation solution, or is it
padding a future re-election bid?
The
Blue Dog questioned Pollard about local metropolitan
planning organizations - does the MPO process
supersede local control on road projects?
"MPOs
have not typically superseded local control of road
projects," Pollard says.
"MPOs
are primarily composed of local political
representatives, and I think one of the biggest
shortcomings of MPOs in Virginia is that their plans
tend to be a compilation of local wish lists rather
than truly regional transportation plans,"
Pollard says. "In addition, VDOT has kept them
on a fairly short leash, and the state has
threatened to withhold funding to areas that don’t
support the highway projects it wants."
Are
the MPOs a hindrance, or opportunity?
"Overall,
I think MPOs are much more of an opportunity than a
hindrance, but their performance has been
mixed," Pollard says.
The
Commonwealth cannot build its way out of congestion
with massive amounts of money for transportation
projects, because the overcrowding of roadways will
continue to rise.
Transportation
improvements, new and refurbished roads, often
dictate the location and rate of growth of
development in our communities,
Now
let's discuss alternatives.
Mass
movement
The
congested Fredericksburg area would be a good test
model city for a sensible mass-transit solution
where local citizens and government foot the bill,
and private enterprise is sought out and contracted
to efficiently administer that model.
Think
about this ...
How
many downtown Fredericksburg citizens would dare
walk over the I-95 interchange - when the walking
distance to Spotswood mall is doable. Buses, a
subway system or old-fashion city trolleys could
ease congestion with the interchange and to the
downtown area.
Harrisonburg
planners approved shopping centers on the other side
of I-81, but the traffic solutions suggested are
virtually identical (to Fredericksburg and other
smaller Virginia cities) - that is, the
construction of Southeast Corridor bypass and the
planned beltway encompassing the city of
Harrisonburg.
"Solutions
such as improved mass transit and transportation
demand reduction measures would be far more
effective and less destructive in either of these
cases than building a bypass," Pollard says.
"As
mentioned, it is also critical to link
transportation and land-use planning and to improve
land use policies, both to guide growth to
designated areas in order to reduce the costs of
providing services to new development and to provide
the proximity needed to make transit and other
transportation alternatives feasible," Pollard
says.
Concerning
the Blue Dog's suggested public-transportation
solutions for Fredericksburg and Harrisonburg,
Shucet says, "These are all worthy solutions to
consider."
"I
have no argument with that," Shucet says.
"But the impetus has to come from a coordinated
effort. The MPOs in Fredericksburg and Harrisonburg
should consider these solutions. Your question
itself points back to the land-use and
transportation issue.
"Also,
recall that during the planning and environmental
process, localities, citizens and public-interest
groups all have an opportunity to suggest
alternatives for analysis. VDOT will not dismiss any
option simply because it's something other than a
highway," Shucet says.
The
Blue Dog's advice: If you don't stop the madness,
eventually the urban growth of Fredericksburg and
Harrisonburg will spread to the outlying
countryside.
Asphalt
roadways and their road amenities - i.e. gas
stations, burger joints, etc. - will be constructed
on vanishing Virginia farmland and scenic vistas
along with Virginia's historical property, such as
the endangered Civil War battlefields of Central
Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.
But
it's the same story throughout Virginia - state
politicians and bureaucrats often have short
careers, but once you pave a road on Virginia's land
...
It's
there forever.
--
November 29, 2004
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