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The
Third Crossing: Keep the Multi-Modal Tube
I enjoyed your
article on the Third Crossing ("The
Third Crossing," May 26, 2003). The Third
Crossing would provide benefits not only to the
traveling public, but would serve as an economic
springboard for the Peninsula and Southside Hampton
Roads, including the Ports. Direct benefits to the
military would also accrue. Now, if only we had $4.4
billion to build it.
But, as you
correctly note, we are not going to simply
"find" money for this project. We're going
to have to work at it, and we're gong to have to
find multiple sources of revenue. There is no golden
goose. We are currently discussing several options
for advancing this project in order to maintain the
integrity of the approvals that we already obtained
through completion of the environmental process in
June 2001.
I do respectfully
differ with you regarding the multi-modal tube that
could eventually provide for rail across the harbor.
While highway-only solutions still have their place
in some urban areas, the Third Crossing is an
excellent example of a transportation facility that
can maximize a return on investment. The concept
behind the modal tube is to design and build, from
the very beginning, a separate tube that can evolve
as the region continues to grow. At first, this tube
could serve as an HOV lane. Later, as congestion
increases, this tube could be dedicated for bus
rapid transit. And finally, when higher speed rail
comes to Hampton Roads, the modal tube will be ready
to accommodate the rail line. Does it cost more? You
bet. But, the ROI makes the modal tube a
winner in my opinion.
Philip
Shucet
Commissioner
Virginia Department of Transportation
Richmond
Philip.Shucet@VirginiaDOT.org
The
Third Crossing:
Why
Does Virginia Need the No. 1 Port?
Why
is it good for Hampton Roads maritime traffic to be
bigger or the biggest? Would shouldn't every
region be well served to have a balance of transport
options? Would it not be a good idea to have a
viable level of maritime traffic at Havre de Grace,
Dundalk, Baltimore, Indian Head, Reedville, etc?
We
need a network of roads-to-rails initiatives
throughout the six major Mid Atlantic New Urban
Regions, not just in the I-81 and US Route 29
Corridors. The Transalpine Corridors in Europe are
moving in this direction.
You know those Staples commercials where someone
says: "Here's an idea..." What if instead
of building a third crossing of Hampton Roads, the
two urban agglomerations evolved to be a group of
"Balanced Communities?" The traffic
between balanced communities in a sustainable region
might not use all the capacity that is there now,
especially if there were rail service to every dock
as an alternative to trucks hauling containers to
docks.
A place to start is tolls on all crossings and
congestion pricing. Containers go free from 10 p.m.
to 5 a.m. Or how about this: A six-month refund of
tolls for anyone who moves home, job or priorities
so that they go from 10-plus crossings a week to 2
maximum per week.
What we need to do is to get the wheels in
everyone's head turning, not just those on the
blacktop.
E
M Risse
SYNERGY/Planning
Inc.
Warrenton
spirisse@aol.com
The
Third Crossing: Why Should Hampton Roadies Pay?
Maersk
Lines will open a port at Craney Island. It's set
in stone, and the taxpayers of Hampton Roads will
pay for the infrastructure to support this new
port! You are right, the state will benefit from
this port, but the people of Hampton Roads will
pay for it. To date $18 million has been taken
from the Hampton Roads transportation budget to
make the channel 50 feet deep, thanks in whole to
the illegitimate HRPDC. The tax increase that we
overwhelmingly voted NO for [last fall], was
reported as The Stupid Ignorant Roadies Not
Knowing What's Good for Them. I think we know
exactly what our city councils are trying to do to
us, instead of for us, and we will deal with them
in the next few elections.
The
Third Crossing is just a way to get the trucks
from the ports to the interstate quicker, and if
this is necessary than the money for it needs to
come from the port revenues, not from the people
of Hampton Roads! The state of Virginia needs to
recognize the fact, just like any other company
does: If you want to increase your revenue then
you have to provide the infrastructure to do it!
If
the state wants a port on Craney Island, then it
needs a road to support it because there is not
one there now, and a road to support Norfolk
International Terminals. I will vote against
anyone that suggest that the people of Hampton
Roads should pay for these roads. And I suspect
that a lot of other people will also!
If
the income from these ports will enrich the whole
state, then why shouldn't the whole state pay for
the infrastructure to support them?
Spare
us the Labels
As
an independent thinker without a label, I enjoy most
of your articles. I think you have the best
interests of our Commonwealth at heart. I must note,
however, that Patrick McSweeney's use of labels in
his most recent piece ("The
Morning After," May 26, 2003), smacks of
mindless religious conservative partisanship. I
truly doubt that many pro-choice people are
"pro-abortion," as he seems to think (or
rather claim - not think), and with a few
exceptions, pro-choicers can't fairly be called
"abortionists." Most of the ones I know
think abortion, though a matter of personal choice,
is a sad if not tragic event, and would wish for
abstinence or effective birth control as preferred
alternatives.
Gene
Derryberry
Roanoke
Eugene_Derryberry@gentrylocke.com
Restructuring
Virginia's Tax Code
Concerning your
commentary on why we need to modernize and reform
Virginia's tax code ("A
19th Century Tax Code for a 21st Century Economy
," May 5, 2003): You miss the entire
point of the debate. The age of the tax code is not a sin in and
of itself. What possible reason is there to
modernize the tax code except to raise taxes?
And how in the
world to you mobilize public opinion on behalf of
higher taxes? Just saying it is antiquated is no
way to mobilize public opinion. Bottom line: The
strongest proponents of reform know it will be
wildly unpopular -- that is why they refuse to
release the plan prior to the election. This
is not leadership. It's just good ol'-fashioned
deceit
In
a follow-up two weeks later, ("Taxula
Rasa," May 19, 2003) Bacon's Rebellion tapped a
tax theory devised by 19th-century writer Henry
George, who advocated real estate taxes that taxed
the value of the land, not the improvements upon the
land.
Readers
interested in tax reform will find great interest in
http://www.askhenry.com/
a Henry George search engine linked to sites around
the world. An index of Georgist web sites can be
found here.
Also, the Council of Georgist Organizations is
having its annual conference as detailed here.
Joe
Casey
buylosellhi@worldnet.att.net
Workforce
Wobbles
In
their May 19, 2003 column, "Workforce
Wobbles," Fred Williamson and Joanna Hanks
argued that Virginians should stop turning up their
noses at well-paid technical occupations.
Great
article! I have been saying much the same thing to
people in Hanover (my own kids included) but, as you
know, we need to reach the parents. Most still think
that college is the only alternative.
Marc
S. Weiss, Director
Mechanicsville
mweiss@co.hanover.va.us
Too
Small to Govern?
I
read with interest your piece on Highland County
("Too Small to
Govern?" April 21, 2003). Unfortunately,
most of the factors that you described are also
confronted by Virginia's other small counties (e.g.,
Craig, King and Queen, Sussex, etc.), cities (e.g.,
Norton, Emporia, Galax, etc.), and two towns that
operate independent school divisions (West Point and
Colonial Beach).
While
there are not easy solutions to the concerns of
those localities, the General Assembly has been
farsighted in giving local governments the authority
to provide almost any public service on a
multi-jurisdictional or cooperative basis with
another locality. For example, Waynesboro has just
approved the merging of its social services
operation with the currently joint social services
department of Staunton and Augusta County. In
addition, there is a law that provides that state
funding formulas will not penalize local governments
if they choose to consolidate services. Finally,
there is broad authority contained in the Joint
Exercise of Powers Act which allows local
governments to work together with other local
governments in Virginia or political subdivisions in
any other state or the District of Columbia.
If
you are interested in some of the successful local
government cooperative ventures in the Commonwealth,
there is an informational publication available on
the Commission on Local Government's web
site, entitled Alternative Approaches to
Interlocal Concerns.
Ted
McCormack
Deputy
Director
Commission
on Local Government
tmccormack@CLG.STATE.VA.US
The
Green Coast
Dan
Sloan's recent article ("The
Green Coast," April 21, 2003) provided a
fascinating look at sustainable development. The
idea of Sustainable Technologies Industrial Parks
which balance the ecological impact of otherwise
"dirty" manufacturing facilities is a
novel approach to economic development.
I see some parallels between Northampton County and
some area of the northern Piedmont, where we
desperately need some form of economic development
to balance residential sprawl from the DC metro
area. Here locally, for example, we keep hoping to
attract "clean" economic activity, which I
think is largely an exercise in wishful thinking.
Eco-industrial development, on the other hand,
provides a realistic opportunity to grow
economically without despoiling the natural beauty
of our surroundings.
Please keep us informed.
Terry Nyhous
Warrenton VA
Terrysteam900@aol.com
Social
Upheaval in China?
You
are preaching to the converted with me ("The
Five Instabilities," April 28, 2003): I
have long maintained China is inherently unstable.
For a long time I have felt some kind of
'explosion' would occur. But I am more and more
beginning to feel that, in fact, the country may
indeed 'muddle through' a series of
'mini-explosions', and avoid 'Karakatoa', assuming
one huge if -- if the Communist Party
finally gives up a monopoly on political power, something
no Communist party has ever done before.
I
wonder if the Communist Party, as a first
step, might allow an opposition party to
emerge in various local regions, competing only
for local offices. I could see this taking place
in the coastal 'have' regions' you identify, and
only later in the central part of the country. The
populations most clamoring for this are
theoretically the new middle classes in these more
prosperous areas, and they are also the parts of
the country where western influence is most present.
I
also would add to your #3 'Instability': While
many westerners have invested in China, so far as
I know, very few have so far made large efforts to
get profits out. What will happen when they do? It
is one thing to invest in building a hotel in
China, and then reinvest the profits made in China
into building a second hotel there. But what
happens as the investments mature if the hotel
company wants to sit back and enjoy an income
stream from its hotels. Will the Chinese
government allow profits to flow freely out of the
country? No totalitarian state ever has.
All
of this will be of increasing concern. Remember,
when Pepsi and others went into the Soviet Union
in a first wave of exuberant investing in the
1970s (granted on a much smaller scale), they
found they often only made a profit by 'bartering'
- Pepsi won the right to market Russian vodka in
the States. Such arrangements look good, but often
have lots of concealed costs, and are far more
cumbersome than getting paid in convertible
currently for your product.
John
V.N. Philip
New
York, N.Y.
jphilip@fklaw.com
You
did an excellent job on the China piece, though
you offered no alternative strategies for our economic
development friends to think about. I'm not sure
that the anticipation of a catastrophic economic
event in China is where we need to place our hopes.
You didn't mention "why" so much capital
and manufacturing has found its way to China -- just
as it has to Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, and all the
other "third world" countries before them
- and that's the overwhelming focus, and pressure on
American management to generate profit, stock value,
and ever-increasing ROI.
Unless our rural brethren can arrive at viable
strategies for demonstrating "how" they
can positively impact profit, value and ROI, I'm
afraid there is little hope. I don't believe that
many companies are going to accept lower profit,
reduced share value, or lower ROI for the sake of
altruism. Not even for economic security and
stability.
You posed an interesting scenario in a very
thoughtful piece. Do you have any alternatives to
suggest?
Stephen E. Toler
Managing Principal
MOSBYGREY
llc
Richmond,
VA
stoler@mosbygrey.com
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June 2, 2003
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