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It's not all about roads
Jan.10, 2007
To the Editor,
I read your January cover story on transportation gridlock
with great disappointment. Never once were transportation
alternatives such as rail or transit mentioned. Nor was
Virginians for Better Transportation mentioned that started
an education and advocacy campaign three years ago and
continues today.
State Sen. Charles Hawkins (R-Chatham),
chairman of the transportation subcommittee of the
Senate Finance Committee, best describes the Virginia
transportation dilemma. "This can't be just about roads," he
consistently says. And he follows that regular comment
with the fact that he lives at the end of a dirt road
in rural Southside Virginia.
The senator's transportation bill last session included
transit and rail funding. His bill was a result of the
Senate transportation study commission, START, of summer
2005. It involved all transportation. The bill died in
the House Finance Committee but was, obviously, passed
by the Senate.
Newport News Mayor Joe Frank,
in a meeting where he pledged support of his city for
Virginians for High Speed Rail, said, "We don't
have room for any more roads."
In Hampton Roads, building new tracks to accommodate
freight coming out of the ports is a huge priority of
that region- using rail to get trucks off roads. Norfolk
and Virginia Beach want passenger trains for congestion
relief. Leadership of Norfolk's huge Navy operation has
expressed the same aspiration.
State Sen. John Watkins (R-Powhatan)
is the sponsor of a study that has just been completed
as a result of legislation in 2006. The "Washington, DC to Richmond
Third Track Feasibility Study" deals with the increasing
need and pressure for rail relief on the I-95 corridor.
Inadequate, freight-crowded tracks hamper the public's
desire and need for rail travel from Richmond to Washington
and the Northeast.
States below Virginia are so intent on getting the Southeast
High Speed Rail Corridor under way that North Carolina,
for instance, is completing environmental and engineering
studies in Virginia. The North Carolina congressional
delegation obtained federal matching funds for the project!
Virginia's failure to move on rail is becoming increasingly
embarrassing.
This transportation "standoff" isn't
just about roads. The engineers, road builders, asphalt
companies and others supporting Virginians for Better
Transportation understand that which is why they invited
ALL modes to join their education/advocacy effort.
Nancy Finch
Executive Director
Virginians for High Speed Rail
Richmond
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