ISSUES: Transportation

Land use and transportation needs are inextricably linked. To move our citizens and commerce, we need to ensure that our transportation networks are maintained and improved. Solving these problems in the state and in our region will require a variety of approaches, especially at a time where resources are scarce. A fiscally responsible approach suggests that we focus on those problems that are most acute, and prudently plan for future needs in light of our projected resources.

This means an emphasis on improving our local road and transportation network. When roads are appropriate, cost-effective, and supported by a consensus in the community, I will actively work to ensure we get our share of transportation dollars to get them built. And once they are built, they must be maintained. In Albemarle, yearly secondary road allocations have fallen from $4.8 million in FY 2000 to $3.7 million in FY 2006. This trend must be reversed if we are to provide the infrastructure to ensure our quality of life.

I support flexibility in how localities may use transportation dollars so we can provide funding for improved bus service, better traffic light synchronization, and increased maintenance. I believe the State Transportation Trust Fund should be just that, a "trust fund" that should not be "raided" for other purposes absent extraordinary circumstances. I support state incentives to localities who adopt innovative approaches to road construction and land use. I support giving localities the tools to better plan growth so we can reduce pressures on our roads and transportation network. And I oppose any General Assembly interference with a locality's ability to make decisions about roads that are entirely within that locality's boundaries, such as the recent efforts to penalize Albemarle and Charlottesville for actions related to the Rt. 29 Bypass.

While I support building roads where appropriate and consistent with community needs, I do not believe that road construction in itself will solve all problems of traffic congestion. In an era when the average number of miles logged by each Virginia motorist has risen from 13,285 per person in 1992 to 17,055 miles per motorist in 2001, we need to look not only at asphalt but also at trip reduction and better planning. That is why I support greater efforts to encourage telecommuting, smarter development patterns, and better transit.

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