A sign of the times, as reported by Peter Bacque in the Times-Dispatch: The Federal Highway Administration estimates that building a 1.5-mile section of the Fairfax County Parkway now will cost $60 million more than the $114.7 million that the state has allocated for the four-lane road. Transportation officials blame the rising cost of energy and raw materials.

More such cost increases are inevitable, as the declining value of the dollar drives up the cost of asphalt, concrete and steel purchased from foreign markets. Even when raw materials were cheaper, Virginia never could afford to build its way out of traffic congestion. But now the hope that road construction can keep pace with increased Vehicle Miles Traveled gets more detached from reality with each passing day.

This is just another reminder that Virginia needs to radically re-think the assumptions underpinning its transportation policy.