Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Where’s the P3 Money Going?

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by

James A. Bacon
in

The big winner: Southeastern Virginia

Four days ago Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, issued an analysis contending that the McDonnell administration could find $300 million to support the Rail-to-Dulles heavy rail project from funds set aside for public private partnerships. That argument is moot now that the state Senate approved the 2013-2014 budget without the extra monies for Dulles rail.

But Schwartz made a point that still resonates: “The Virginia Secretary of Transportation,” he said, “should provide a clear presentation of his funding allocations and priorities to the legislators.”

Here’s how Schwartz reconstructs state commitments to public private partnerships so far:

  • $124 million to the Coalfields Expressway
  • 350 million in GARVEE bonds for the Midtown/Downtown tunnels
  • $124 million (proposed) for Interstate 95 HOT lanes
  • $500 million (proposed) for Route 460

(Note: The precise state allocation to the Midtown/Downtown tunnels is still under negotiation as the administration seeks to provide roughly $100 million in toll relief.)

Those projects account for nearly $1.1 billion, or more than two-thirds of all the money the state has set aside for public-private partnerships (P3s). As it currently stands, Hampton Roads, with 21% of the state population, will wind up with 57% of all the boodle. I find it remarkable that no one is complaining that one corner of the state should receive the lion’s share of P3 funding. Is anyone paying attention?

Schwartz is particularly critical of the U.S. 460 Connector: “Hampton Roads officials have said Route 460 is not their priority and that they would rather have the funds allocated to their traffic choked bridge/tunnel crossings. During this legislative session, they have campaigned for funds to reduce the toll burden imposed in the current PPTA deal for the Midtown/Downtown tunnels and they have asked for Route 460 funds to be allocated to the James River crossings.”

Governor Bob McDonnell views U.S. 460 as an economic development project, and economic developers concur that the potential exists to turn U.S. 460 between Suffolk and Petersburg into a world-class manufacturing and logistics corridor. But the question remains: Is the potential so enormous that it justifies allotting one-third of all P3 money to a single project?

Count on Bacon’s Rebellion to keep asking the questions that people should be asking.

— JAB

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  1. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    Well I respect Mr. Schwartz. He’s pretty much a straight shooter but VDOT finagling of money and priorities is nothing new, right?

    We are undergoing some enormous changes in the way we “do” transportation infrastructure in Va. Basically the pay-as-you-go concept is
    out the window. We now look at revenues as loan payments.

    I’m not sure I disagree with that in general as long as we continue to live within our means and don’t try to buy too much infrastructure and our loan payments get out of control.

    Va has never been particularly transit-friendly and RoVa never misses the opportunity to remind everyone that gas taxes come from cars not transit riders.

    There is, and continues to be, a belief that urbanized areas deserve to have their transportation needs subsidized by rural areas because urbanized areas are the economic engines that generated the taxes that are then used to help the rural areas.

    It’s sort of a scratch your back trading of “subsidies”.

    By far the two most infrastructure-costly areas in Va are NoVa and Hampton. Richmond already sucked the VDOT teat in prior years and Charlottesville decided to weigh in.

    460 is apparently some sort of internal agreement between the Gov, Sean Connaughton and whoever runs the Port Authority because the rest of Hampton fails to see the logic behind 460.

    Major mega infrastructure projects are NOT proportionally allocated. By their very nature they are a state strategic issue that often transcends localities and regions.

    Now I DO AGREE that VDOT/CTB owes everyone an accounting of how they prioritized.

    I also agree with the logic that rail to Dulles is a state, even a national need and in my mind at least as important as Tunnels in Hampton and 460.

    the problem when you try to keep from raising taxes is that it forces you to make tough calls on what you can afford and there are never easy no-brainer type calls.

    NoVa has options… in my mind they should have asked the GA for the ability to institute a permanent dedicated tax for METRO but the problem is that there is a huge level of mistrust as to whether or not MWAA is capable of running a cost-effective operation.

    I fully expect the GOP to try to decapitate the Senate and neuter them as to any role in future urbanized vs rural tradeoffs.

    The urbanized places in Va are about to be taken down a notch if they are depending on the Dem Senate to be their advocate.

  2. Hydra Avatar
    Hydra

    Schwartz never met a raod he didn’t like. If he was actually a straight shooter he would find some road proposals better than others, but in his view they are apparently all bad.

    The traffic claming (read road obstruction projects on route 50 might be an exception.

    Meanwhile, here is what Leo Kotkin had to say about smart growth, smart growth advocates, and California.

    “And things will only get worse in the coming years as Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and his green cadre implement their “smart growth” plans to cram the proletariat into high-density housing. “What I find reprehensible beyond belief is that the people pushing [high-density housing] themselves live in single-family homes and often drive very fancy cars, but want everyone else to live like my grandmother did in Brownsville in Brooklyn in the 1920s,” Mr. Kotkin declares.”

    California sounds like Fauquier County West

  3. DJRippert Avatar
    DJRippert

    “As it currently stands, Hampton Roads, with 21% of the state population, will wind up with 57% of all the boodle. I find it remarkable that no one is complaining that one corner of the state should receive the lion’s share of P3 funding. Is anyone paying attention?”.

    Tidewater is a growing area with a proper focus on future economic development. They are also almost certainly a “surplus region” which pays more in taxes than it receives in state spending. Given that, I have no objection to Tidewater overcoming the Clown show in Richmond and improving its infrastructure for the future.

    You see, Jim … when you spend money in a region that actually has a plan for the future other than hoping things “bubble up” it’s an investment.

    The only complaint I have about Tidewater is that The Tides are off to a poor start this year. The Orioles need the talent being developed down in Norfolk so I hope they improve.

    Oh … sorry, Jim … that’s Triple A baseball talk.

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