Richmond, Va. —
In what was described as an unprecedented coming-together, local government leaders from across the state’s urban crescent agreed to develop a common policy to confront Virginia’s looming transportation funding crisis.

Meeting in Henrico County Thursday, the officials said they will use their considerable influence back home to pressure the General Assembly to come up with enough money to fix Virginia’s old and overburdened transportation system.

For the populous 46 counties and cities in the arc from Northern Virginia to Hampton Roads, highway funding has become a stark issue. In 2017, the “state runs out of transportation revenue,” according to Virginia’s Golden Crescent Transportation Summit.

“We have a problem,” said Thomas G. Shepperd, chairman of the York County Board of Supervisors. “Fix the damn problem.”

Meeting at the Henrico County Government Center, the group agreed to draft a resolution supporting General Assembly members who “take all necessary and immediate action” to provide a comprehensive solution to the need for new money for transportation, even if that means unpopularly raising taxes.

“We reject the notion that (the state’s highway problems) can be solved without new money,” said Mary Hynes, chair of the Arlington County Board of Supervisors.

For example, officials said Thursday, every 1-cent increase in Virginia’s gasoline tax – now 17.5 cents a gallon — would generate about $50 million for transportation.

The Virginia Department of Transportation’s annual budget for 2012 is nearly $4.8 billion; however, that includes almost $1.3 billion in borrowed money.

The state government is responsible for virtually all Virginia’s main and local roadways. Virginia operates the nation’s third-largest state highway network: nearly 58,000 miles of roads.

Road maintenance has first dibs on Virginia’s transportation money, but the staggering economy has reduced funding for the state’s transportation system. As a consequence, the state has been using highway construction funds to cover pressing road-repair needs.

State legislators have long resisted providing new, long-term funding for the state’s highways and transit systems. The last major infusion was in 1987.

Within five years, officials pointed out Thursday that:

No state funds will be available for new highway construction projects;
The state will be unable to provide the required matching funds to bring to Virginia all the federal transportation revenue it is otherwise eligible to receive; and
Virginia won’t have enough money to keep its existing roads, bridges and tunnels up to proper maintenance standards.
“It’s time the (General Assembly) leadership shows more leadership,” said Daniel A. Gecker, chairman of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors.

“It’s going to be hard work. It’s got to be a drumbeat,” Shepperd said of bringing public pressure to bear on the legislature. “When (a General Assembly member) walks across the York County line, I want Newport News to be telling them the same thing.”

Getting the urban crescent’s top local elected leaders together for the meeting was unprecedented, said Dwight L. Farmer, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission’s executive director. “This is historic,” he said.

Impetus for Thursday’s meeting came from Hampton Roads officials, beset with public opposition to new tolls coming to pay for several regional transportation projects.

The “Golden Crescent” is the state’s economic heartland.

The region runs along the Interstate 95 corridor from Northern Virginia to the Richmond-Petersburg region and down to the North Carolina line, and from central Virginia along Interstate 64 and U.S. 460 to Hampton Roads.

While the counties, cities and towns in the great swath represent less than a quarter of the state’s area, they are home to two-thirds of its population and nearly 80 percent of its economy.

And most of the state’s driving — 63 percent of the daily vehicle-miles traveled — occurs in the urban crescent.

The urban crescent’s localities also provide 72 percent of the Virginia’s employment, pay 74 percent of the state’s sale tax, produce 75 percent of its personal income, and create 79 percent of the state’s gross product.

“It’s not just about us,” said Arlington’s Hynes. “It’s about everybody else, too.”

$4.8 billion

Approximate annual budget for 2012 for the Virginia Department of Transportation

58,000

Miles of roads operated by VDOT, the nation’s third-largest state highway network

$1.3 billion

Approximate amount of this year’s VDOT budget that is borrowed