Hampton Roads, meet Northern Virginia.

Legislators from Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia will meet each other halfway Wednesday when they convene their first-ever transportation summit near Richmond.

Both areas suffer from traffic problems and are looking for long-term financing plans that are politically doable. Del. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, says he hopes the two sides can just start talking.

"You have to start with dialogue," he said. "This is a meeting that's never happened before."

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine plans to roll out his own transportation plan, possibly next week. Then he plans to convene a special session of the General Assembly sometime in June.

Cosgrove said he expects good attendance from the two regions -- perhaps 35 lawmakers in all. Not everyone will attend, though. Sen. Tommy Norment, R-James City, said he respects the effort of the two groups, but he really wants to see what Kaine rolls out, and how the House of Delegates reacts to it.

Norment said he is fairly certain that the Senate could agree on a combination regional/statewide transportation plan.

"I don't have that same optimism in the House of Delegates," he said.

Stay tuned. We''ll try to provide updates from the meeting, which starts at 10 a.m.