Category: Infrastructure
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Time to Consider New Downtown Parking Models in VA
In May Richmond City Council voted to increase the hourly rate for street parking downtown from $.50 to $.75 per hour with the goals of netting an additional $250,000 yearly in revenue and helping downtown businesses by increasing the turnover in parking spaces. By way of market research, according to the Times-Dispatch, city officials had…
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Another Take On Cuccinelli’s Vague Road Plan
By Peter Galuszka So far, Ken Cuccinelli’s campaign for Virginia governor has been long on rhetoric and short on specifics. Such was the case with his piece on Sunday’s Washington Post Local Opinions page headlined: “Taking the politics of roads funding in Virginia.” What caught my eye were two of Cuccinelli’s ideas. The first is…
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Cuccinelli Hints at New Formula for Road Construction
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has yet to roll out his promised comprehensive transportation plan, but he hinted in a Washington Post op-ed Friday that he won’t mince around with baby steps when he does. Instead of political reasoning, my administration would rely on a statewide traffic congestion index to determine how new construction is…
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The Back Story on the Transurban “Relocation”
by James A. Bacon The governor’s office issued a press release yesterday touting the fact that Transurban, operator of the 495 Express Lanes and 95 Express Lanes, has relocated its U.S. headquarters from New York City to Fairfax County. The two express lane projects have been highly beneficial to Virginia, said McDonnell, supporting 16,000 jobs,…
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Richmond’s $11.25 Million Investment in Gateway Plaza Seems Justified
by James A. Bacon Richmond City Council has approved $11.25 million in general obligation bonds to build a public parking garage for the proposed Gateway Plaza, a $110 million office tower in downtown Richmond. I’m often skeptical of municipal “incentives” to stimulate “economic development” projects, but I think this undertaking will withstand scrutiny. Chicago-based Clayco…
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Norfolk’s Cruise-Line Gamble Could Turn up Snake Eyes
by James A. Bacon Norfolk city officials are worried that Carnival Cruise Lines, the only cruise line serving Hampton Roads, may not schedule any departures from the port in 2014. The Miami-based company confirmed that it is reviewing the 2014 deployment of several ships, including the Carnival Glory, the only ship with scheduled sailings from…
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Coal, Power Lines and Historic Jamestown
By Peter Galuszka Captain John Smith would be shaking in his boots. Now the National Trust for Historic Preservation agrees. Dominion Virginia Power’s plan to erect a $155 million, 550-kilovolt power line across the James River just east of the Colonial Jamestown settlement would “compromise scenic integrity of historic cultural areas surrounding the river.” The…
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The Smart Parking Revolution Gains Momentum
by James A. Bacon No one likes paying for parking, but the prospect of parting with a buck or two is nothing compared to the hassle of rummaging through your pockets, in your glove compartment or under the floor mats for stray coins. The only thing worse is worrying about your time expiring, dashing outside…
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Six-Year Improvement Program: a Blueprint for Failure
by James A. Bacon With the adoption of the new Six-Year Improvement Program, the details of Governor Bob McDonnell’s transportation priorities plan are coming into clearer focus. There are some worthy elements to the plan but glaring deficiencies guarantee that Virginia will see minimal benefit from the billions of dollars dedicated to new construction. On…
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CTB Authorizes New Transportation Spending Plan
by James A. Bacon With no debate over spending priorities, the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) affixed its stamp Wednesday to the Six-Year Improvement Plan submitted by the McDonnell administration. Drawing upon a revenue influx from the transportation tax package passed earlier this year, the commonwealth will increase spending on rail and highway projects from $11.4…
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Bad Bridges
by James A. Bacon Virginia supposedly prioritizes road and highway maintenance over new construction but the condition of the state’s bridges doesn’t appear to reflect it. According to a new report by Transportation for America, 9.1% of the bridges in the Old Dominion were rated “structurally deficient” in 2013. That wasn’t as bad as the…
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“Jac” Cales’ PPTA Monkey-Wrench
By Peter Galuszka For four decades, James A. “Jac” Cales Jr. was a fixture on the judicial halls of Hampton Roads, albeit not one to take himself too seriously. As Portsmouth commonwealth’s attorney for a decade in the 1970s, he would lean back in his chair, his hands folded over his stomach and nod vigorously…
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The Good and Bad of Exporting LNG
By Peter Galuszka Riding a chunky, balloon-tire bicycle may seem awkward enough, but imagine pedaling in a six-feet-wide concrete tunnel for one mile on the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It’s amazing what we Bacon’s Rebellion bloggers do to keep you readers informed, but it’s all in a day’s work — just like…
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Yet Another Owner for Richmond’s Unwanted Road
By Peter Galuszka Richmond’s “Road to Nowhere” is about to get yet another owner, showing again how the public-private partnership craze can result in unneeded transportation projects while denying resources elsewhere. Australia’s Transurban which owns Route 895, otherwise known as “Pocahontas Parkway” is dumping the tollroad it picked up in an emergency financial deal in…
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Cuccinelli, Penguins and Natural Gas
By Peter Galuszka Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli’s strange episode involving a natural gas lawsuit involving one of his largest political contributors for his gubernatorial campaign raises yet another issue about his ethics. First, whatever was a Cuccinelli staffer doing advising a subsidiary of coal and gas giant CONSOL Energy, which has given Cuccinelli more than…