1. The people targeted for tolls still pay the gas tax to pay for the roads they don’t use.
2. In this instance, there are 2 existing roads being tolled and only is being expanded. You are tolling one road to add capacity to another.
3. This creates a “tolling authority” with the power to toll roads and take land via emminent domain without any due process.
4. No tolls for Northern Virginia - ever. Even the proposed toll on I-95 would begin and end at Fredericksburg.
5. Not many people chose to live in one place and work in another. In a military and contracting heavy area, where one reports to work changes day to day. Plus, in a crappy economy, you take te work you can get and most people can’t up and move.
6. The people complaining are the ones that use the tunnels (a majority are low income Portsmouth residents). Nobody asked them their thoughts. Most would prefer the status quo. They will pay tolls for 10 years BEFORE the project is completed. During that time, traffic will be worse with lane closures etc. I don’t accept the premise that something HAS to be done. Come up with the funds with the taxes we already pay or leave it alone. We are already taxed to the brink.
7. Tolls in essence are a liberal idea, not a conservative one. Exhibit states and areas that currently have heavy tolls. It is a cowardice cop out.
8. Unaccountable tolling authorities with emminent domain power are sure as hell not conservative.
9. This really isn’t a democrat/republican issue. It is a crony issue that elites in both parties have supported for years.
i’m not a fan of “tolling authority”, just as I was not a fan of the privatised HOT lane idea that is coming here in northern virginia (which is a toll road, but is a self-selected toll road).
On self-selection — this is an idea that I think deserves consideration, I don’t want to dismiss it out of hand. When I was in California, they had roads that were like HOV, but were toll roads, and you could decide to use them or not, and the tolls changed depending on how crowded the main road was, so if you wanted to pay more and get somewhere faster, you could.
That is the idea for the HOT lanes here, except that they took existing roads paid for by taxpayers and handed them over to a private company and will allow them to collect money from non-HOV users.
Do people choose to live where they work? I don’t know in general, but I did, and when I got tired of my 15-minute commute, I moved closer and can walk or ride my bike if I want now. I’m blessed, probably, although I don’t remember being given a special magic wand to give me a good job and the ability to pick where I work and where I live.
I don’t do much down in the Hampton roads area, but when I do I always plan around that stupid I64 tunnel. If I’m on a business trip in Virginia Beach I make sure I get out in time to beat the traffic to the tunnel, or else I wait until late evening. I do a lot of travel at night to avoid traffic, but then you hit construction.
If the two tunnels serve a similar traffic corridor, it would benefit users of both to expand one and move some traffic out of the other. I don’t know if that is the plan, if not then they shouldn’t both be tolled.
I agree that toll roads can be a panacea, and a crutch. But I don’t think they are inherently liberal.
And again, I don’t like the tolling authority idea. I also don’t think that will survive the process, because the delegates don’t seem keen on it either. I guess we’ll see.
I will say that I’m extremely cautious right now about attacks on McDonnell. I don’t think he’s perfect, and I’ve complained about things he has done. But I also have seen some attacking him out of anger over his endorsement of Mitt Romney, and while I don’t support Romney this time around, I’m not targetting others for doing so.