Transportation talk dominates early caucus meeting

The early morning Hampton Roads Caucus meeting can be a bleary-eyed lazy affair some Thursdays, but this week local lawmakers had some interesting and telling transportation discussions.

More then a dozen lawmakers were at the table this morning and they touched on nearly every major obstacle standing in the way of new money coming to Hampton Roads' ailing interstate network.

The overwhelming sense coming from these folks was that the General Assembly should slow down and get it right this time, which increases the odds of a special session sometime this year. Lawmakers  even started to organize a formal Hampton Roads summit on transportation at Old Dominion University.

The most interesting consensus surrounded the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, which was not going to be upgraded under the regional plan struck down by the state Supreme Court last week. The region's largest bottleneck is a major sticking point for Peninsula residents. 

"The citizens expect the HRBT to be solved," said Del. G. Glenn Oder, R-Newport News.

But widening the HRBT would run smack into Del. Paula Miller's Norfolk district.

"130 homes in my district," Miller said. "130 beachfront homes in my district."   

The funding focus was largely on the viability and power of a statewide gas tax.

Oder said lawmakers need to take the time to explain that raising the gas tax by a penny isn't enough to bring in real roads money.

"You're probably talking about somewhere in the 17 to 18 cents a gallon range," Oder said. "It's significant."

Del. John Cosgrove chairs the caucus and said the handful of e-mails from his Chesapeake district have told him "under no circumstances raise any taxes, period."

Sen. Harry Blevins, also from Chesapeake, had a wholly different take - proposing that lawmakers talk to residents and commuters in stark terms.

"If you don't want to raise taxes, we're not going to pay for roads," he said. "We've done nothing and I think that's a failure."

Del. William K. Barlow, D-Isle of Wight, noted that delaying road projects drives up costs because of the skyrocketing prices on concrete, steel and gasoline.

"It's costing us a whole lot to delay," Barlow said. 

Sen. John Miller was crystal clear on the future of the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority, which no longer has taxing power but still exists and could hypothetically put tolls in place.

"My people want it to go away - completely," Miller said, throwing his weight behind a statewide gas tax to get money from out-of-staters.   

Freshman Del. Brenda Pogge also stepped up to the plate, imploring local lawmakers to lead the discussion.

"We're at a point where we either put up or shut up," Pogge said.

Pogge said locals shouldn't wait for a plan to be given to them.

"It's called the shaft," quipped Del. Robert Tata, R-Virginia Beach.   

Cosgrove also talked about the rumors that a transportation solution could come together this year that doesn't specifically address Hampton Roads' problems. Cosgrove said local lawmakers should vote against any plan without significant funding for local roads.

"That's the power of the caucus," Cosgrove said.

Obviously that's why local lawmakers gather across party lines, but it's one of the first times in recent years that local leaders have talked openly about wielding that power as a tool to influence significant legislation.

Cosgrove also said that the transportation summit shouldn't be a town hall, but rather a chance to get lawmakers up to speed. After lawmakers get the transportation information they can organize public meetings to gather feedback from local residents and commuters.

"When you glean through all the insults you get some pretty information," Cosgrove said.