Free Republic

RICHMOND — The same court that two months ago struck down Virginia's regional transportation-financing plans is now considering a similar case challenging the state's planned transfer of the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. The Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in a lawsuit filed by two Northern Virginia residents against state transportation officials and agencies. The lawsuit says the transfer would violate the state constitution because it wasn't approved by the General Assembly. Richmond Circuit Judge Margaret P. Spencer dismissed the lawsuit in March 2007, ruling that the state has sovereign immunity against such claims....

RICHMOND (AP) — After years of planning, construction will begin next spring on the new express toll lanes on the Capital Beltway, state transportation officials said yesterday.M The public-private project will cost about $1.7 billion — nearly double the projected cost two years ago — and will be completed in 2013, the Virginia Department of Transportation said. VDOT Commissioner David S. Ekern said the agency has reached an agreement in principle with two private contractors — Transurban DRIVe and Fluor Enterprises — for design, construction, operation and maintenance of the high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. The project is intended to...

Some Virginia Republicans say the proposed transportation deal forces them to consider how far they will stray from their conservative roots in order to get a comprehensive package approved. "You can't call this a conservative bill with a straight face, but nobody is getting out there saying this is a conservative bill," Sen. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II told The Washington Times. "Certainly I have been talking to party folks who share my concern for the demise of the Republican brand. We used to be the tax-cutting, or at least the hold-the-line party," the Fairfax County Republican said. "So what does...

RICHMOND -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said yesterday that the public's response to legislative gridlock on transportation improvements prompted him to renew his proposals to increase vehicle registration fees and the sales tax on new cars. Anti-tax Republicans, who control the House of Delegates, rejected the proposals during the extended session last year. Mr. Kaine, a Democrat, will ask lawmakers to reconsider during the 46-day election-year session that begins Wednesday.

Fifteen years from now, 28,000 trucks a day, many of them hauling double or triple trailers, may be speeding up and down special truck lanes on Virginia’s Interstate 81, belching tons of carbon monoxide into the Shenandoah Valley each year. Proponents of “toll truckways,” such as the influential libertarian Reason Foundation think tank, believe they are the wave of the future and the answer to the nation’s transportation needs. Today, trucks on the four-lane I-81 account for as much as 40 percent of total traffic, thanks in part to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The road, which has become...

Transportation officials thought they were doing a good thing when they provided a nesting area along a major highway for several threatened species of birds. But after five years, the nests have attracted more than just terns and black skimmers. The birds' predators — sea gulls — have come out in droves and are crashing into cars on Interstate 64, which connects southeastern Virginia to the mainland. Last summer, up to 60 gulls died on the highway every day. Concerned about the potential for serious car accidents, the state Department of Transportation has called on wildlife officials to shoot some...

The Virginia Transportation Research Council studied all of the state red light camera programs and found an overall increase in injury accidents. A brand new, exhaustive study of all seven Virginia red light camera programs shows an overall increase in injury accidents has occured where the devices are installed. The study was performed by The Virginia Transportation Research Council at the request of the state transportation secretary. The report also notes a fatal flaw in the Virginia's camera law -- motorists can ignore any ticket received in the mail. Only tickets that are personally served matter (the same thing happened...

State plans to build $7 million toilet The New Kent Rest Area will be an 11,000-square-foot facility, built in colonial style with an array of comforts including 40 toilets. Artist rendering. By BILL BURKE, The Virginian-Pilot © December 7, 2002 The state's roadbuilding program may be in the toilet, but that's not stopping the folks who run it from erecting a latrine fit for a queen. Or a governor, at least. It's not much to look at now -- just a big clearing to your right at Mile Marker 213 on Interstate 64 as you motor east through New Kent...