Category: Infrastructure
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Getting Around London
by James A. Bacon London is one of the most photographed cities in the world. Tourists flock there by the millions, and most of them have cameras. The Parliament building, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey… the list of world-class photo-worthy historical sites goes on an on. And then there’s the scene shown above —…
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Why Does London Have So Many Parks?
by James A. Bacon In the United States, we have gated communities. In the United Kingdom, the Brits have gated parks. They call them “key parks” because it takes a key to enter. There is just such a park near where we are staying. The Bacon family walks past it every day on the way to the…
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Building the New Midtown Tunnel
Building the new Midtown Tunnel between Norfolk and Portsmouth is one of the more spectacular engineering feats ever attempted in Virginia. Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC), the private-sector partner in charge of the $1.5 billion construction project, has to dredge a 95-foot-deep trench in the Elizabeth River, float 11 massive concrete tubes the length of football…
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Sediment, Wetlands and Climate Change
Karen McGlathery, an environmental sciences professor at the University of Virginia who runs the Virginia Coastal Reserve Long Term Ecological Research program, is particularly taken with the study of marshes and wetlands. Over the past century, worldwide sea levels have risen seven inches over the past century, and even faster in the Virginia Tidewater where subsidence…
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Pulp and Circumstance in Chesterfield
By Peter Galuszka Jim Bacon has a fascinating cover story about the future of Short Pump in the latest Henrico Monthly magazine. Not to be outdone, I humbly point out that I have a cover story in the Chesterfield Monthly, a sister publication. I explain how Chesterfield County, the state and other officials landed Shandong…
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Can Short Pump Be Salvaged?
by James A. Bacon The Short Pump area of Henrico County, the largest retail concentration in Central Virginia, is a fascinating test case for the proposition that it’s possible for state and local governments to build their way out of traffic gridlock. My verdict: Henrico has managed to beat the odds so far, but future…
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Dueling Reports
For each and every report, there is an opposing report. Yesterday, Peter G. cited an issue brief published by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which contended that an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plan to curtail CO2 emissions would create 5,600 jobs in the Old Dominion and shave $1 billion off Virginians’ electric bills. Now…
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Too Early to Celebrate Demise of Bi-County Parkway
by James A. Bacon Foes of the proposed Bi-County Parkway, which would skirt the Massassas battlefield, are more optimistic than ever that the highway mega-project will never be built. Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax, and Sen. Richard Black, R-Loudoun, proclaimed at a press conference yesterday that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) “is not actively working…
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NRDC Says Clean Power Plan Benefits Virginia
By Peter Galuszka In a sweeping contradiction of the positions of Dominion Virginia Power and assorted politicians and regulators, the Natural Resources Defense Council has issued a report saying that Virginia will benefit by following a proposed federal plan to cut carbon dioxide. The U.S. Environmental Protection Administration has put forth a proposed plan for comment…
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A New, Improved Ken Cuccinelli?
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in Business and Economy, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka Is one-time conservative firebrand Ken Cuccinelli undergoing a makeover? The hard line former Virginia attorney general who lost a bitter gubernatorial race to Terry McAuliffe in 2013 is now helping run an oyster farm and sounding warning alarms about a rising police state. This is remarkable switch from the man who battled…
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Measuring the Impact of Complete Streets
“Complete Street” projects that make streets more hospitable to pedestrians, bicycles and mass transit have a multitude of benefits, concludes Smart Growth America in a new report, “Safer Streets, Stronger Economies.” In a study of 37 projects, the authors found that complete streets tend to result in higher property values, fewer traffic accidents and injuries and…
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Cruz, “Liberty” and Teletubbies
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka Where’s the “Liberty” in Liberty University? The Christian school founded by the controversial televangelist Jerry Falwell required students under threat of a $10 “fine” and other punishments to attend a “convocation” Monday where hard-right U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for president. Thus, Liberty produced a throng of people, some 10,000…
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An Inexpensive Experiment
by James A. Bacon Henrico County, my home county, is conducting an inexpensive public policy experiment. If it pans out, the county could improve its competitive posture as a manufacturing location. If it doesn’t, the county hasn’t lost much and can always revert to the previous status quo. County Manager John A. Vithoulkas has included…
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Carbon Cuts: Why PJM Has a Better Idea
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Water-waste waterBy Peter Galuszka Amidst all the gnashing of teeth in Virginia about complying with proposed federal carbon dioxide rules, there seems to be one very large part of the debate that’s missing. Several recent analytical reports explore using regional, carbon marketplaces to help comply with proposed federal Clean Power Plan rules that would cut carbon…
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Does Dominion Win or Lose from the New Law?
Virginia’s biggest power company could benefit from the freeze in electric rates but it also could take a big hit to earnings from power-plant shutdowns.