The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority approved a package at its January 10, 2008 meeting that included $50 million in scarce regional funds for trolleys, bike trails, sidewalks, parking garages, landscaping and similar investments.
The package includes many projects with merit including I-66/Vienna Metro Station access improvements, along with Prince William County Parkway, Route 1, Route 7 and Route 28 improvements and funds for new Fairfax Connector buses.
However, in allocating more than 25% of funding for projects with little or no regional significance, including $37 million for a trolley to replace an excellent existing bus service, the Authority is spending serious money on items that will do very little to reduce congestion.
(To read the Alliance’s testimony, click here)
Authority members claim they have no choice – that HB 3202 requires proportional distribution and that the trolley is in the region’s 2030 Plan.
However, HB 3202 only requires proportional distribution over time, not annually. The trolley is far from the region’s most significant transportation investment need.
The area’s congestion and transportation problems are not going to be helped or met by funding smaller projects in a more concentrated area. To really help alleviate traffic problems, a stronger position needs to be taken and an overall increase in construction and funding for developing the major throughways will have to be made.