The pundits at the Virginian-Pilot are making progress: They’ve finally acknowledged that there’s more to solving Virginia’s transportation woes than raising taxes. Instead of blowing off the remedies proffered by the House of Delegates leadership as meaningless obstructionism, the Pilot stated in an editorial yesterday: “Somehow, some way, the House, the Senate and the executive…

The Washington Post has picked up on the trend that local governments in Virginia and Maryland are stepping in to pay for local roads that the states cannot afford to build. Localities, reports Eric Weiss, “are going into debt to embark on an unprecedented half-billion-dollar road-building boom to try to ease some of the area’s…

I had my first encounter with a touch-screen voting booth today. I found it a vast improvement over Henrico County’s previous, mechanical voting technology. The instructions were clear — no room for confusion whatsoever. There was a brief delay as I stood in line while poll watchers made an hourly check on the machines —…

This was originally published in the latest issue of Bacon’s Rebellion e-magazine. Given the topic and the timing, it will be interesting to see the kinds of discussions (if any) that this idea will generate among bloggers in Virginia. Have at it folks! =========================================== As the 2006 elections rush to a conclusion, the stars of…

Del. Clifford L. Athey, R-Front Royal, thinks that Frederick County has a growth-management model worth emulating — so much so that he has crafted legislation to require counties across Virginia to create Frederick-style “Urban Development Areas” to accommodate growth. I explain Athey’s idea in my latest column, “Focused Growth,” the third of three articles that…

The Nov. 6, 2006, edition of Bacon’s Rebellion has been published. You can view the complete product here. Better yet, subscribe and have the e-letter delivered to your inbox every two weeks. Here are this week’s offerings: Focused GrowthTo tame scattered development and the ills it creates, Frederick County concentrates growth in an Urban Development…

The Virginia Department of Transportation has announced the most significant restructuring of its maintenance operations since 1932. The department will consolidate 335 maintenance facilities into 244 locations by July 2008, aiming to save some $4 million to $6 million per year. Much of the work on secondary roads will be outourced; all work on interstate…

How realistic are the revenue assumptions of Hampton Roads transportation planners? Del. Leo Wardrup, R-Virginia Beach, argued yesterday that the region’s transportation plan is based on faulty assumptions about how much the region’s drivers would be willing to pay at the tollbooth, reports Tom Holden with the Virginian-Pilot. Using low toll rates, [lawmakers] said, forced…

Style Weekly has the details of the long-rumored editorial shake-up at the Richmond Times-Dispatch: two deputy managing editors laid off, the shuttering of the South Boston bureau, the scrapping of Mark Holmberg’s column, and various reassignments of responsibility. In a nod to the increasing importance of digital media, reports Greg A Lohr, “the newspaper is…

In early September, we profiled the efforts of Spotsylvania County build its way out of its transportation woes — voters last year approved a $144 million bond referendum. (See “Spotsy Turvy,” Sept. 8, 2006.) In theory, jurisdictions that take on prime responsibility for building and maintaining their own roads will make a greater effort to…

Here is an interesting juxtaposition of stories. First comes this from Michael Hardy at the Richmond Times-Dispatch: The General Assembly is very unlikely to grapple again with a statewide transportation fix before the 2008 session of the legislature. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine conceded as much yesterday, arguing that lawmakers rarely act on major issues during…

A 110-foot roundabout, due for completion next spring, will create an attractive southern gateway to the city of Portsmouth’s revitalized downtown. Reports Janie Bryant with the Virginian-Pilot: The road design eliminates several of the roads now feeding in and out of Crawford Street and frees up extra land on its northwestern side to make room…

There are huge disconnects between transportation and land use planning in the Washington New Urban Region. State/local government, the usual offender, is not the only perpetrator. Alec MacGillis with the Washington Post examines the impact of locational decisions made by the federal government. Recent offenders: The FBI, the FDA and the Pentagon. In case after…

Supporters and foes of Highland New Wind Development’s proposal to erect 19 windmills on a 4,300-foot-high ridge in Highland County presented their case yesterday in a State Corporation Commission hearing. The arguments in a nutshell, according to Greg Edwards with the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Wind energy’s supporters see it as preferable to power generated by burning…

I’m an atheist and a Darwinist. I don’t go to church except to attend weddings and the odd Christmas or Easter service. I’m what you might call “secular.” The difference between other secularists and me is that I respect my Christian heritage. I don’t take offense at the display of traditional Christian symbols in the…