Step right up, there's plenty to go around!
The Virginia Department of Transportation has reached financial close with Elizabeth River Crossings to begin construction of the new $2.1 billion Midtown/Downtown Tunnel project in Norfolk. Also, Governor Bob McDonnell announced today, he will ask the Commonwealth Transportation Board to allocate “up to $100 million” to cover the cost of delaying the tolls until January 2014.
That extra $100 million comes on top of VDOT’s $300 million contribution under the terms of the deal. The good news is that VDOT had originally anticipated kicking in $362 million but was able to pare back its commitment thanks to lower interest rates. Thus, in effect, the state is plowing back $62 million into toll rate relief and contributing a net of only $38 million more.
In a press release issued this morning, the McDonnell administration addressed the volatile reaction in south Hampton Roads to the imposition of tolls on facilities that had been paid off years ago and been enjoyed toll-free since. In an interim agreement negotiated before McDonnell took office, said the press release, the estimated toll was $2.89 for cars. That rate will be lower, $1.59 to $1.84 per car initially under the current plan depending on time of day, although rates will rise over time.
Politically, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Will Hampton Roads residents be mollified? McDonnell’s plan eliminates the paying of tolls before the new facilities are actually built, a gross injustice in anybody’s book, and he can claim to have brought down toll rates lower than they would have been. On the other hand, many Hampton Roads residents object to paying any toll. This may not satisfy them.
Also, now that the governor has agreed to buy down tolls for Hampton Roads commuters, he has set a precedent for the Rail-to-Dulles project, for which Democrats have been pushing for an additional $300 million in relief over and above $150 million already promised. If Hampton Roads gets a total state contribution of $400 million, will $150 be enough to satiate Northern Virginia? Or will the governor cave and hand over the full $450 million?
If he does, what’s to stop the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which has been put in charge of the heavy rail project, from making more decisions that add to the cost of the project? Will MWAA back off its decision to stack the deck for Phase 2 bidding in favor of companies operating under union Project Labor Agreements at the risk of a higher winning bid?
Finally, is there any rhyme or reason left to how state transportation dollars are allocated to mega-projects? All of they money we’re talking about here is borrowed, and it’s all exempt from traditional funding formulas which, for all their imperfections, do distribute money around the state according to criteria related to population and need. The calculus is purely political, divorced from any social and economic Return on Investment.
— JAB
