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FORGET THE PAST--IT'S TIME FOR CREATIVITY

August 9, 2009 12:36 am

WASHINGTON

Our traffic is frustrating, but having the same narrow debate about how much more to spend on transportation and where to find it is also frustrating. We need to question the project wish lists of VDOT and local officials, address underlying causes for traffic, and apply creative, energy-efficient solutions.

Unrestricted wish lists gave us the "VTRANS 2025" long-range plan from VDOT, proposing $203 billion in spending over 20 years, about $108 billion more than projected revenues. Without bonding, that equates to $5.4 billion per year over and above the $3 billion to $4 billion we spend today. That's completely unaffordable, if not ridiculous. A business owner would tell employees to go back to the drawing board to find a less expensive and more effective solution.

Leading members of the General Assembly have balked at having to pay to chase sprawl--scattered and leapfrog development--with more road money. They recognize that unsustainable patterns of land development are at the core of Virginia's traffic problems. The number of miles driven by Virginians has increased at three times the rate of population growth. The amount of land converted to development has increased 41 percent while population increased 8 percent. We are spreading out, and this creates more traffic. Any new spending must be tied to better land use and community designs that reduce distances and number of trips we take.

TAKING ACTION

Both the General Assembly and Gov. Kaine have taken action in key areas. They approved requirements for traffic impact studies for major new development and strengthened access management restrictions to ensure that perfectly good state highways are not turned into strip-mall traffic nightmares. New subdivision street standards will narrow neighborhood streets and increase connections, making streets safer for children and adults. Requirements for designated growth areas will reduce the cost of roads, water, sewer, school busing, police and fire facilities. Increased funding for transit, passenger, and freight rail will help meet booming transit demand.

Let's build on these initiatives First, grow where we already have infrastructure in our cities, towns, and those declining commercial strips with their acres of developable parking lots, and zone for a variety of housing closer to jobs. Building where we already have infrastructure and partnering with the private sector to repair, replace, and upgrade that infrastructure is cheaper than new facilities while also repairing the old.

NEW DESIGNS

Design communities to have interconnected local street networks that are safe for pedestrians and bicyclists. Most daily trips are non-work trips to schools, shopping, and other needs. Communities designed for shorter car trips, with the ability to park once and accomplish many errands, and where walking and bicycling are possible, mean fewer and shorter car trips each day.

Ask businesses--and require those that receive state economic development subsidies--to locate in cities, towns, near transit, and in mixed-use communities, near retail and other services. In Northern Virginia, the state's $6 million subsidy to VW should have been tied to transit locations, but VW selected a location beyond walking distance from two future Dulles Rail stations.

Transit-oriented development works. Arlington's Rosslyn-Ballston Metro corridor has more than 30 million square feet of development on just 7.6 percent of the county's land, generating one-third of its tax base. Traffic has not increased on the streets, and the majority of trips are walking, bicycling, and transit. The 2 square miles of development would have consumed 14 square miles in an outer suburb, generating far more traffic. Fairfax is redesigning Tysons Corner into a walkable, transit-oriented center to absorb three times current development.

Transit-oriented development works at the town scale, too, tied to the more accessible VRE stations or to high-efficiency bus rapid transit along U.S. 1, U.S. 17, and State Routes 3 and 610 in the Fredericksburg region.

Fixing our aging infrastructure should be a priority, whether with Metro or the U.S. 1 bridge over the Rappahannock River. During the stimulus discussions, it was learned that Virginia has a $3.7 billion backlog in deficient bridges and $1 billion in deficient interstate pavement. Eleven bridges along I-95 in Richmond need urgent replacement and will receive stimulus funds.

While these bridges crumbled, hundreds of millions went to the sprawl-inducing State Route 288 outer bypass. Traffic chokes intersecting roads, while boosters for the highway reaped a windfall developing at the interchanges and undermined the market for thousands of acres of land with infrastructure in Richmond and the older suburbs.

For long-distance commuters, widening of I-95 is one option, but the "if you build it, they will come" phenomenon means that the new lanes can fill up in as little as five years. Higher-capacity commuting alternatives are more effective. Expand HOV and "slugging," bus, vanpool, and VRE service. But don't give away our public highways and tolls to private companies for 75 years.

Our transportation challenge is about more than traffic. Four-dollar gasoline hit families hard, led to a boom in transit use, and contributed to a bigger housing collapse in the outer suburbs. We need to invest in more efficient patterns of development and in energy-efficient transit, in order to maintain our economic competitiveness, save families money, and ensure our national security.