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VDOT officials paint bleak picture of future transportation funding at Culpeper meeting

Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne was quick to explain why the Interstate 95 southbound crossing over the Rappahannock River is being funded while the northbound side of the project is not.

“We don’t have the money,” Layne told those who attended a Smart Scale town hall meeting in Culpeper on Monday. Read More

The Consequences of Insufficient Funding, Part 4

SMART SCALE has been a huge step forward for transportation funding in Virginia. By creating a fair process for divvying up transportation funding, SMART SCALE is able to further development, improvements and transportation projects across all areas of the state.

But despite the good SMART SCALE is able to do for transportation projects, it also shines a stark light on the fact that the available funding still falls short of the need statewide.

Well over 400 projects were submitted to Round 2 of SMART SCALE. Of those, 404 went through the scoring process. Last month, SMART SCALE wrapped up the scoring and selection process, and 147 projects were able to get the funding green light to move forward. Read More

Editorial: Interstate highways should not be toll roads

A transportation system that allows for the free flow of people and goods is as essential to the nation’s economy as a healthy circulation system is to the human body. That’s why transportation is one of the federal government’s most important domestic responsibilities.

Unfortunately, in the half century since the interstate highway system was created, members of Congress have often viewed their obligation to maintain and expand it as merely one of many programs competing for federal funds, rather than the top priority it should have been all along. In doing so, they failed to provide sufficient resources to repair aging highways and bridges and add new ones to handle increased traffic. Read More
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