2nd Quarter 2006
May 28, 2006 - The Roanoke Times - Editorial
Plan the right improvements for I-81
The Virginia Department of Transportation should await the findings of the state's Rail Advisory Board before dismissing an I-81 rail component.
Spending part of Memorial Day weekend sandwiched between tractor-trailers crawling along Interstate 81 is certainly no one's idea of a picnic.
The inevitable snags that force motorists to cool their engines and their tempers might allow a thought, poisoned by the fumes of congestion, to creep in: The Department of Transportation could be on to something with plans to add at least four more lanes along I-81. Heck, why not pave the entire Shenandoah Valley? Anything -- even a handsome toll --to keep moving.
Of course once traffic again moves freely, the thought flits away. It's really just all this extra freight. I-81 wasn't built to handle this heavy of a truck load. Problem is, if nothing is done, traffic, such as the 58,000 vehicles traveling each day through the Roanoke Valley, will double by 2035. But can Virginia pave its way out of this jam?
Is there a choice? Rail advocates think so. They'd like to see a re-emergence of a 600- mile rail line between Knoxville, Tenn., and Harrisburg, Pa., with Roanoke, and its upcoming intermodal yard, in between.
Members of Rail Solution push the idea. As persuasive as their arguments are, they lack a good, comprehensive study that can add heft to the debate. They are about to get it. The question is whether it will be soon enough to make a difference.
Recently, Gov. Tim Kaine signed into law a bill that directs the transportation secretary and the Rail Advisory Board to get cracking on a comprehensive feasibility plan and a cost analysis to determine what it would take to divert freight off I-81 and onto the rail.
The legislation doesn't set a deadline, suggesting instead that it be completed "as quickly as reasonably possible."
The information is vital to the environmental review process currently under way on the I-81 corridor. In fact, the deadline for comments on the initial draft impact statement is set to close tomorrow, on Memorial Day. While VDOT has received a rail yard full of comments that promote a rail component, the study itself failed to seriously consider rail.
Without the Rail Advisory Board's information, it is impossible for VDOT responsibly to eliminate rail as one of the alternatives for alleviating I-81's congestion and safety hazards.
Waiting for the information could delay the process, which might steam frequent users, but it is just as important to do this right as to get it done. |||
May 9, 2006 - The Roanoke Times
Legislators oppose truck tolls on I-81
Some lawmakers say tolls will divert trucks from Interstate 81 to smaller roads.
By Ray Reed (981-3351)
State legislators in the Interstate 81 corridor urged a halt Friday to highway officials' negotiations with builders who proposed truck-only lanes on I-81.
The 11 legislators who joined in criticizing the truck-lanes concept objected to tolls proposed by the Star Solutions builders' consortium.
Eight of the legislators are from the Shenandoah Valley, and they supported a resolution against Star Solutions that failed to pass during the legislative session.
The General Assembly later designated those members as a committee to focus on proposals for upgrading I-81.
They continued their opposition to the Star Solutions concept Friday by adding statistics to the argument.
In a news release issued by the Virginia Trucking Association, the legislators cited a New Jersey company's study indicating trucks would avoid I-81 in huge numbers if tolls were to be placed on it.
The trucking association said miles driven by trucks using U.S. 11 instead of the interstate highway would more than double as drivers avoid tolls.
The percentages of miles driven on other roads such as U.S. 29 could reach 129 percent and higher.
The association said it got its projections from ALK Technologies, a Princeton, N.J., provider of truck routing services.
A gulf existed between the trucking association's projections and VDOT's numbers. VDOT predicts a 1 percent increase in the number of trucks on U.S. 11.
Cars, not trucks, are most likely to use U.S. 11 if they need to avoid tolls on I-81, the VDOT study predicts. Car tolls on I-81 currently are not allowed under state law.
A clear explanation of why the projections differed so widely wasn't available. But the statistical methods were different: VDOT counted the number of trucks on U.S. 11, and ALK Technologies calculated the number of miles they would drive.
Both the trucking association and VDOT based their projections on a 20-cents-per-mile toll on trucks, although tolls have not been approved.
Star Solutions proposed four years ago to increase I-81 to eight lanes border-to-border through Virginia.
Four lanes would have been designated solely for trucks, to be paid for by tolls on trucks.
The truck-lanes concept sustained two major hits last year. First, Congress in the federal transportation bill appropriated just $100 million of the $800 million that Star Solutions had sought for truck lanes.
Next, a draft environmental study paid for by the Virginia Department of Transportation said six lanes would be wide enough for I-81 through about half of Virginia, and that only a few urbanized areas might need truck lanes.
VDOT has been negotiating a potential contract with Star Solutions since a study panel approved Star's proposal two years ago, after rejecting a six-lane concept for I-81 offered by another consortium.
The legislators on Friday called for those negotiations to stop.
Jay Smith, spokesman for the trucking association, said, "VDOT is in the process of awarding a contract to a predetermined company before they even know the scope of the project.
"It's ironic that the company that came up with the bad idea and didn't get the federal funding they promised is going to be rewarded with what is likely to be a different project altogether," Smith said.
VDOT officials have consistently said terms of a contract with Star Solutions can't be settled until the environmental study is complete.
VDOT's target for completing the study's first tier is late this year.
Southwest Virginia legislators who joined in the call to halt Star Solutions negotiations were: Del. Anne Crockett-Stark, R-Wytheville; Del. Jim Shuler, D-Blacksburg; and state Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke.
Note: This article also appeared in similar form late last week in Richmond and Bristol papers. |||
May 9, 2006 - Roanoke Times- Editorial
TRUCK TOLL LANES AREN'T IN THE STARS
Key lawmakers want VDOT to halt negotiations with Star Solutions to
add toll lanes to I-81. The governor should lead the movement.
Long gone are the days, thankfully, when politicians and road
builders got out a map, decided which towns to favor with
interchanges, then poured concrete from Point A to Point B.
That type of highway building failed to consider how people and
their goods travel now and into the future, and it gave little
thought to unintended environmental or economic consequences.
That's why, at the public's insistence, the federal government
devised a long and involved permitting process. State transportation
officials must demonstrate a need for a project, such as alleviating
safety and congestion problems along Interstate 81, then impartially
evaluate an array of options. That's not happening along I-81.
Gov. Tim Kaine should direct the Virginia Department of
Transportation to stifle the preconceived notion that Star Solutions
offers the only answer: four truck-only toll lanes.
VDOT's environmental study hasn't backed the Star Solution plan as
the best solution, yet VDOT continues to promote the alliance. Last
week a group of key lawmakers whose districts fall along the
corridor requested that VDOT step away from the negotiating table.
The transportation agency responded that it isn't a done deal. Now,
Kaine needs to make sure that it isn't for several reasons:
* The study low-balled the amount of truck traffic that would avoid
paying tolls and use alternative routes -- the incentive for which
continues to grow when profits dwindle during fuel cost spikes. The
Virginia Trucking Association cites a study that concludes U.S. 11
truck traffic would double, thereby shifting congestion and safety
problems to a road ill-equipped for the overflow.
* The study failed to consider, as the federal government has urged,
the congestion-alleviating, fuel-conserving intermodal
transportation concept of moving freight by ships and rail as well
as trucks.
* The Star Solution proposal -- expected to cost between $13 billion
and $19 billion -- failed to gain the federal funding anticipated,
receiving just $100 million of the $800 million sought.
* The environmental study indicates that only those sections of I-81
near urban areas would benefit from four additional lanes.
* Most important, the governor and senators are locked in a
budgetary stalemate with Republican delegates over the future of
transportation in Virginia.
Until financing for a comprehensive, long-term transportation plan
is approved, the state would be foolish to rush into a project with
Star Solutions that has neither the money nor the public support
needed to complete it. |||
April 20, 2006 - The News Leader - Staunton
Star Solutions faces sharp I-81 questions
By Joel Banner Baird/staff Jbaird@newsleader.com
BRIDGEWATER -- The specter of an irreversible expansion of asphalt through the Shenandoah Valley was only the first of many road hazards raised at the public hearing on the future of Interstate 81 during a gathering at Turner Ashby High School on Wednesday.
Forty of the 46 speakers who voiced opinions at the Virginia Department of Transportation-sponsored event favored substantial detours from the wholesale widening of the interstate proposed by Star Solutions, a Haliburton subsidiary.
Most of the testimony claimed that enabling more vehicular traffic in the Valley would degrade the Valley's air and water resources as well as its cultural heritage.
Howard Kittell, the executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, called on VDOT to develop a supplemental study following the current round of hearings -- which would then be open to further public discussion.
"This (environmental) impact statement does not adequately address our concerns, and the concerns of many other citizens," he said.
Nick MacNeil of Staunton agreed.
"These comments make no constraints on VDOT," he said. This is the last public hearing before they make their final decision. It's a pig in a poke."
Star Solutions spokesman Tyler W. Bishop, a vice president with McGuire Woods Consulting, said that his client's proposal would remain flexible.
"When people say that hot spots (such as truck climbing lanes) should be done first, we couldn't agree more," he said. "But that's no substitute for a wider interstate."
Bruce Richie of Criders said the Star Solutions proposal ignored steadily higher gas prices that would soon inspire Valley residents to devise other, more modest solutions.
"It's going to be about carpooling," he said. "It's going to be about not going into town every day. We seem to have forgotten that Jimmy Carter asked us to turn down the thermostat and slow down our driving. That's not what happened."
Jerry Snyder of Bridgewater, who drives a truck for Little Debbie in Stuarts Draft, said the widening of I-81 was "a no-brainer," because of the growing need for truck-hauled freight.
"Trucks are a necessary evil," he said.
Kenny Lee Robinson, the Verona residency administrator for VDOT, hovered around the displays and answered questions. Some favored expansion; most did not. Either way, he said, he felt better informed.
"You need those voices," he said.
Nearly 300 Valley residents attended the event -- the highest public response at any of the recent series of VDOT-sponsored hearings on I-81. |||
April 20, 2006 - Daily News Record - Harrisonburg
Many Roads To A New I-81
Hearing Highlights Divergent Ideas For Improvement
By Melvin Mason
BRIDGEWATER — Reducing truck traffic, concerns about the environment, and new lanes for Interstate 81 highlighted a public hearing on Wednesday.
The session at Turner Ashby High School was the last of six public hearings the Virginia Department of Transportation held in the last few weeks throughout the I-81 corridor. VDOT held the three-hour hearing to receive feedback on an environmental study of the interstate.Many Want Fewer LanesMost speakers during the early portion of the meeting opposed major widening of the interstate. |  | |
| Some of those who attended the public hearing on Interstate 81 improvements examine displays at Turner Ashby High School on Wednesday. A variety of viewpoints on the future of the interstate were put forward at the hearing. Photo by Nikki Fox |
The department has yet to decide on a concept for the road, but the environmental review offered several possible solutions.
Bruce Ritchie of Criders said adding more lanes to the road would lead to more wrecks. He joined others at the session asking that any upgrades include rail improvements.
"We need to quit looking at our belly buttons and look to the future," he said.
Eliza Hoover of Harrisonburg also touted improvements with fewer lanes.
"I think you really can address the issues in more creative ways," she said.
STAR Solutions, a consortium of transportation companies, has presented a concept calling for the interstate to be expanded by four lanes.Some Say More Lanes NeededA few speakers said more lanes are necessary. Bill Davidge of Goochland County compared I-81 to an old car, and said it will need more than an oil change. He said more lanes will be needed, even if truck traffic does not increase.
"I believe a major overhaul is needed," Davidge said.
Jerry Snyder of Bridgewater said using rail won’t help people get what they need quickly.
"Rail is not good for time-sensitive items," he said.
Kevin Saxton, operations director for the Perdue Farms poultry plant in Dayton, said tolls on the interstate would be "excessive" for companies that regularly use it.
"It’s excessive to Perdue Farms and excessive to the many consumers who purchase Perdue products," he said.
VDOT will give the comments from Wednesday’s hearing and five others to the Commonwealth Transportation Board and the Federal Highway Administration. A second environmental study will analyze the impact of whatever plan transportation officials settle on.
Contact Melvin Mason at 574-6273 or mmason@dnronline.com–|||
April 19, 2006 - The Winchester Star
I-81 Hearing: Most Oppose Widening Plan
More Than 200 Attend Session for Discussion of Improvements to Heavily Traveled Highway
By Sarah A. Reid
The curtains in the Winchester Travelodge banquet room blocked the rays of the setting sun and the sight of rush-hour traffic trying to merge onto Interstate 81 from Millwood Pike.
But a small gap in one of window coverings allowed a view of the heavy traffic that occasionally clogged the interstate’s entrance and exit ramps.
Consultant Craig S. Eddy of Richmond moves a partition to make room for the large number of spectators at the hearing.
Of the 215 people who attended the Virginia Department of Transportation’s public hearing on Tuesday, concerning proposed I-81 improvements, only some could see past the curtains to the traffic moving below.
About 50 of them came to the podium to speak — and a large majority opposed the plans.
They talked about heavy traffic around their homes and businesses, and most asked VDOT officials to re-study the interstate plans, investigate the use of railroads, drop proposed tolls, and find a better solution.
In the Winchester area, VDOT is considering widening most of the 23 miles of interstate by one lane in each direction, except between Va. 37 south of Winchester and the Apple Blossom Mall — exits 310 and 313, respectively — where two lanes would be added.
Local public officials — including Frederick County Transportation Planner John A. Bishop, Winchester Planning Director Timothy Youmans, and Winchester-Frederick County Metropolitan Planning Organization Secretary and Treasurer Steve W. Kerr — called for VDOT to create a contingency plan allowing for the completion of Va. 37’s eastern extension, creating a bypass around Winchester.
“In the Harrisonburg area, which currently boasts only half the growth of our own metropolitan area, a bypass is mentioned in the [Environmental Impact Study] due to the constraints around 81,” Bishop said. “In this area, the physical constraints are quite similar.”
Those constraints and the dangers they pose to the environment, parks, Civil War battlefields, and businesses brought out representatives from the Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, the American Trucking Association, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and other groups who spoke out against what could be a $13 billion improvement project along the 325-mile length of I-81 in Virginia.
“We are gravely concerned that the proposal to expand 81 to a truck superhighway will cause irrevocable harm to the [Cedar Creek and Belle Grove] national park and the Shenandoah Valley’s unique rural character,” said Robert Nieweg of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, owner of the Belle Grove Plantation near Middletown.
The National Trust and other groups and municipalities support a six-point plan introduced by the Shenandoah Valley Network, a grass-roots organization that deals with quality-of-life issues.
The SVN’s plan calls for spot improvements on the interstate, use of the medians for expansion, and using rail to relieve vehicle traffic.
Owners and operators of tractor-trailers or trucking companies were generally supportive of getting trucks off the interstate, but said if tolls are implemented to pay for the improvements, more trailers could be coming off the road than VDOT has bargained for.
“We will divert [from I-81] every chance we get,” Con-Way executive Randy Mullett of Berryville said, noting that tolls could add $1.5 million to his trucking company’s costs.
Teresa Sales of Mickey Sales Trucking and Jones Motor of Stephens City said tolls will also cost area residents more, because the fees will push truckers off the interstate and create the need for additional maintenance on U.S. 11 and other side roads.
“Everything you buy has been on a truck six to seven times before it is a finished product in your store,” she said.
Four people spoke in favor of widening the interstate, including Ben Whittle, a Warren County truck driver who also asked VDOT to consider the environment and improve railroads so more freight could be hauled.
“We must be good stewards of our land, valley, and water,” he said.
———
The sixth and final public hearing on the I-81 improvement plan is scheduled for 5 p.m. today at Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater.
VDOT is accepting written comments until April 29. Those opinions can be e-mailed to 81info@VirginiaDOT.org or mailed to Christopher Collins, Project Manager, VDOT Environmental Division, 1401 E. Broad St., Richmond, Va. 23219.
http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/060419/Area_hearing.asp |||
April 18, 2006 - Augusta Free Press
How far down the road is an I-81 fix?
In Focus by Chris Graham (chris@augustafreepress.com)
Another round of public-comment gathering on what to do with Interstate 81 in Western Virginia is getting under way this week.
That the latest phase of the discussion regarding long-looked-at improvements to the I-81 corridor is set to take place against the backdrop of the ongoing transportation-spending impasse in Richmond has not escaped the attention of too many in the political know.
"All of the proposals being talked about with respect to 81 are expensive. It's a question of how we want to invent our future," said Rees Shearer, the chair of the Emory-based Rail Solution, which is working toward the adoption of a corridor-improvement plan that includes a significant freight-rail component.
"I know the General Assembly is struggling over the money end of it now. And the governor seems to be more and more convinced in his public pronouncements that tolling a current-day interstate as opposed to new construction is problematic because of the diversion it causes," Shearer said.
"One thing that's clear is that it's going to be tricky to find the resources to do this," Shearer told The Augusta Free Press.
This is probably putting it mildly. The House of Delegates and Senate are miles apart in their approaches to transportation - with the House pushing for reforms in the way the Virginia Department of Transportation does its business and resisting any tax or fee increases until substantial reforms have been put in place, while the Senate is advocating a pay-now, pay-later approach oriented toward addressing the Commonwealth's myriad roads needs sooner rather than later.
"First things first, we need to work our way through this budget impasse," said Winchester Republican Sen. Russ Potts, who as an independent candidate for governor last year made addressing the state's transportation-funding situation a top-shelf campaign-agenda item.
| "We have all these House of Delegates members who don't perceive at all the sense of urgency - whereas the Senate members, from the West Virginia line all the way to the Tennessee line, with one exception, Mark Obenshain, all understand the sense of urgency here and that every single day truck traffic is increasing and that I-81 is the most heavily traveled truck route in the Northeast and Southeast, and it's getting worse," Potts said. |  |
"The answer is yes, we will get something done with this - but the sense of urgency is going to have to dictate that," Potts told the AFP.
A former colleague of Potts in the Virginia Senate, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, sees things relative to the I-81 issue from a very much different perspective.
| "It is important for us to come up with a plan to reduce traffic and improve safety along the I-81 corridor. I travel that corridor all the time now - with one son in Harrisonburg and one son in Blacksburg in college - and I know what traffic is like there, and I know what the safety issues are. I think trying to do something to reduce traffic and improve safety along the I-81 corridor is one of the most important transportation challenges that we face in Virginia today," said Bolling, a Republican. |  |
"The question obviously is how to go about doing that - because anything that you do along that corridor is going to a, take a lot of time, and b, cost a lot of money. So in recent years, the focus has been behind these Public-Private Transportation Act proposals that in whole or in part would have some toll-funded components associated with them. And the Commonwealth Transportation Board has pretty much settled on this one proposal that would add a couple of lanes in each direction and have some pretty significant tolls. That project was dependent upon a pretty significant infusion of federal funds that never materialized. As a result of that, that project, for all practical purposes, is pretty much off the table right now," Bolling said.
"Now we're back to scratch. They're back really to the beginning of the process. I think what you're going to see in the coming months, realizing that that first project that they had looked at was probably not feasible from a lot of perspectives, they're pretty much back to the drawing board right now trying to figure out what can we realistically do, and how can we realistically pay for it?" Bolling told the AFP.
It would indeed seem that the multibillion-dollar, largely toll-funded plan advocated by Star Solutions, which is currently negotiating with VDOT to serve as contractor on whatever I-81 improvement project might be in the works in the future, is dead on arrival. The nail in the coffin very well could have been the decision by Congress last year to provide $141.5 million in funding for I-81 improvements - less than one-fifth of what the state had been seeking from the federal government.
| "The highway is going to have to be addressed," said Congressman Bob Goodlatte, R-Sixth District. "Certainly if you're going to make changes to the highway, you want to target those areas that are facing the most challenges - both from a safety standpoint and a volume-of-traffic standpoint. Ultimately, more has to be done - and exactly what we do is going to depend in large part upon what the state decides to do about providing funding." |  |
Goodlatte said he and other members of the Virginia congressional delegation in the I-81 corridor have been working with state legislators and VDOT to make sure that state officials have access to as much assistance as they can.
"Basically, the Congress has passed its Highway Bill, we've made some funds available to the state, if they choose to use them under certain circumstances - but the lion's share of the funding, the state has to figure out how to raise that, and that is a challenge for them, I know," Goodlatte told the AFP.
| Weyers Cave Republican Del. Steve Landes, the chair of the House Republican Caucus, thinks it is time for VDOT to get the message and ratchet back its plans to focus on what can be achieved in the here and now."I don't think we'll ever see the project as VDOT has envisioned it ever coming to pass," Landes said. |  |
"I think it's going to have to be scaled back significantly - with work on easing congestion at pinchpoints that has already gotten under way continuing and moving forward. But the massive improvement plan that we've seen develop over the years is going to be a hard sell," Landes told the AFP.
Bolling is pushing for a "more modest" approach to I-81 as well.
"I think they're going to come up with a project that will try to address specific traffic-congestion issues and specific safety issues on a spot basis, if you will - as opposed to one of these massive projects like they were looking at before that tries to add two lanes in each direction," Bolling said.
"I just never thought those were feasible projects - one, because they would have forever changed the character of the Shenandoah Valley, and two because they just cost so much money that I never thought it was realistic that you were going to find that kind of money," Bolling said.
"The reality is that the money just isn't there to do a massive 300-mile reconstruction project - and you've got to be a lot smarter with the way you approach this problem," Bolling said.
"They're going to be looking at a lot of different alternatives - but my hunch is that the alternative that they ultimately settle on is going to be a much scaled-down version than that first grandiose plan that they were looking at," Bolling said.
It sounds like Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, might agree - at least in part - with that suggestion.
| "The federal transportation budget that was passed last summer had about $140 million in it for I-81 - but that's not enough to do the eight lanes statewide. And the eight-lanes-statewide plan was really premised on a lot of federal money that does not seem to be forthcoming," Kaine said during a transportation town-hall forum held in Harrisonburg last month. |  |
"The challenge that we will have will be to take the money that does exist, then match it up with state money - if we can get new state money - to fix the trouble spots along I-81, and there are a number that we can fix. We need to use that money the best way," Kaine said during the forum.
Potts, who was also on hand for the Kaine town-hall forum, sees the current climate of traffic congestion on I-81 as "being one of those situations where the conditions force the issue."
"The same people that keep talking about these quote 'options' - when you ask them what the options are, they give you this blank stare. They don't have any options. We need two truck lanes, and we need rail - and I believe we're going to get it," Potts said.
This Week
A six-part series examining the Interstate 81 improvements issue will begin in Tuesday's Digest. |||
April 18, 2006 - Augusta Free Press
I-81 expansion - oh, the horror, the horror!
Ecology and You
by Erik Curren (info@alayapress.com)
Imagine an eight- to 12-lane autobahn cutting a swath of pavement, Jersey Turnpike-style, through the Shenandoah Valley. Imagine the pollution from thousands more diesel trucks wafting over our towns, our farms and our forests and into our rivers, streams and lakes. Imagine the sound of tires on asphalt and hydraulic breaks screaming through the night from the Blue Ridge to the Alleghenies.
If the Virginia Department of Transportation has its way with Interstate 81, pretty soon you won't have to imagine these things. You'll see, hear and smell them for yourself. And, perhaps like the Indian in the old TV ads, you'll shed a tear.
We all know that something needs to be done. It's hard to drive on I-81 without being sandwiched between a convoy of 18-wheelers. But the plan that the state favors now, touted by a cartel of big, politically-connected engineering companies called Star Solutions, is a disaster for the environment.
What's worse, it's just more of the same thinking that gave us traffic problems in the first place. If you have too much traffic, just build more lanes to accommodate it, right? Star Solutions even plans to ease the budget burden on the state by charging tolls to pay for part of the construction. Very considerate - and they'll make a pile of cash off tolls, too.
This kind of thing sounded good to planners in the Northeast, who have built thousands of miles of tollways, including the infamous turnpike that turned New Jersey (before it became the Soprano State) into the Land of Exit Ramps. It also sounded good in Southern California, where eight- and 10-lane freeways are now more common than Thai chicken pizza.
So is there less traffic now in L.A. or Newark, N.J.? Dumb question. But when the new lanes fill up, they just build new-new lanes. And then new-new-new lanes. And so on, I guess, until their drivers all trade in their cars for personal hovercraft like in "The Jetsons."
Traffic is like water - it expands to fill the space you give it. A kindergartner could understand that, and I assume the guys at Star Solutions are smarter than the average 6-year-old.
Yet, they haven't told us how the Shenandoah Valley will keep from becoming the next Los Angeles after they build their bloated truckway. While we may lack a Beverly Hills-level of plastic surgery, our rural Valley does have something in common with the crowded L.A. basin: a topography that naturally traps pollution.
And we know what that means: more traffic, more smog.
Many areas in the Valley already have air that's too dirty by federal standards. With thousands more trucks a year rolling through, we can expect even worse air. And stormwater runoff from a bigger highway would erode soil and pollute our water even faster than it does now.
OK, OK, it would be smelly, noisy and ugly - but Capitol Hill is like that, too. Anyway, isn't a bigger road the only way to reduce congestion on I-81, even if that relief lasts only about as long as a roll of Tums?
No, it's not, according to David Foster, executive director of Rail Solution (www.railsolution.com), a citizens' group with an alternative for I-81. "Virginians can be smarter," he told me. "We can enter the 21st century with a better way to move freight."
His group's proposal would expand I-81 in only a few key spots to ease road traffic. Then, it would add room for trucks by building a rail line just for them. "In Europe, they handle trucks on trains. They don't think it's an appropriate use of their infrastructure or helpful to the beauty of their country to keep building more road lanes. It's a success."
Here's how it would work. A truck planning to drive through Virginia without stopping for any pickup or delivery (the case for many trucks on I-81) would head to a station at one end of the rail line - either in Harrisburg, Pa., in the north, or Knoxville, Tenn., in the south. At the depot, the trucker would drive his rig, cab and all, onto a rail car. Then, he would board a comfy passenger car for the nonstop trip through Virginia.
On the train, he could grab dinner and a shower, and then catch some shut-eye. When he woke up the next morning, he and his truck would be at the end of the line. Then, he'd drive his rig off the train and continue to his destination. And all for about the same cost as if he'd driven the more than 500 miles himself, but without the wear-and-tear on him or his truck.
Such a plan has never been tried in the United States, so Foster does concede that there is some risk, mostly economic. It would be easy to build and run this truck railroad by adapting technology already in use in Europe. But, using partial figures, VDOT has already brushed aside the rail plan as too expensive. Yet, considering the whole project, it could actually be cheaper to build a truck railroad ($7 billion) than a big tollway ($13 billion).
But would trucks use the train? Probably. When they understand that it wouldn't cut into their revenues, truckers love the plan. "You guys are really on the right track here," one trucker told Foster on a radio call-in show. Car drivers and local communities love it, too, since the trains would get trucks off the highway while emitting only one-third the pollution and using one-fifth the energy if the trucks had driven themselves. And best of all, a couple of rail lines rest a lot lighter on the land than 12 lanes of tollway.
Sure, rail would be something different. But to avoid Northeastern or Southern Californian highway horror, we need something different. "You get more bang for the buck expanding capacity with rail than by building more lanes," Foster explains. "The Eisenhower Interstate System is now mature. We need similar vision for the 21st century. We don't just need more lanes of pavement. We need to ask how we’re going to move freight in this country. And the answer should include rail."
With peak oil coming and the cost of gas certain to skyrocket sooner or later, America's energy security demands that we kick our addiction to foreign oil, as President Bush has said. When more trucks fill more tanks with Mideast oil to ship our stuff, then we all become fund-raisers for Al-Qaeda.
Let's not forget global warming, either. We all need to drive less. This goes double for trucks, our heaviest drivers. Rail can help. Otherwise, we can kiss the Antarctic Ice Shelf goodbye and start planning our next family vacation to the Colonial Williamsburg Undersea Park.
If you want to save our Valley from becoming a truck speedway, you can still take action now:
1. Let VDOT know that you don't want a big ugly tollway, but a smart railway. Go to the final hearing on their environmental impact statement on Wednesday in Bridgewater at Turner Ashby High School from 5-8 p.m. Or, submit comments to VDOT at www.I-81.org (click "Comment Online") by April 29.
2. Then, call Gov. Tim Kaine at (804) 786-2211. Tell him you don't want a supersized highway threatening the rural character of the Valley and ask him to make VDOT seriously consider a low-impact, energy-efficient rail alternative.
Erik Curren is a regular contributor to The Augusta Free Press. Curren is the author of Buddha’s Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. More information about Curren's works is available on-line at www.alayapress.com. The views expressed by op-ed writers do not necessarily reflect those of management of The Augusta Free Press. |||
April 18, 2006 - Editorial - The Roanoke Times
Gov. Kaine puts secrecy in the fast lane
Concealing the details of VDOT's public-private partnerships needlessly prevents public scrutiny.
Virginians seemed about to make it through a session of the General Assembly without any serious attacks on open government. It was nice while it lasted.
After the regular session, the Virginia Department of Transportation convinced Gov. Tim Kaine to tweak legislation so the agency could hide some of its high-cost dealings. If lawmakers agree to the changes, they would hang a curtain before the state's public-private partnerships, curtailing the public's right to monitor how VDOT hands out tax dollars to contractors.
Senate Bill 76 was supposed to close loopholes that allow state agencies to avoid disclosure of some documents in public-private partnerships. The Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, which the state created several years ago to protect the free flow of information, composed the bill with assistance from several groups, including representatives of VDOT.
That broad support led to unanimous passage by both the House and Senate.
Now VDOT has backpedaled. Under the governor's proposed changes, public-private partnerships could remain secret throughout the life of a project.
Transportation officials say they need secrecy to negotiate with private firms.
No one contests that during contract discussions, keeping some cards hidden helps the state get the best deal. Local government can hold executive sessions for that very reason. Yet secrecy over the life of a project would prevent oversight, not empower negotiators.
For example, the overhaul of Interstate 81 that the General Assembly is contemplating would take many years to complete. During that time, the public would have no way to find out whether VDOT spent millions -- probably billions -- of dollars responsibly.
Strangely, until this incident, VDOT has stood as a paragon of open government in Virginia. Its Dashboard Web page provides easy access to a wealth of information, and its internal tracking system for freedom of information requests is a model for other agencies.
With public-private partnerships becoming the modus operandi of transportation projects, particularly with a push for such deals from the House, concealing them from public scrutiny would be a tremendous mistake.
On Monday, last-minute negotiations led to a compromise that would sunset the provisions after one year. During that time, the FOI Advisory Council would rewrite the bill to meet VDOT's needs and preserve open government.
Kaine should accept that deal. Otherwise, lawmakers should reject Kaine's amendments. |||
April 13, 2006 - Bristol Herald Courier
RAILS, NOT TOLLS
Public hearing on I-81's future fields criticism
By David McGee, Staff Writer
BRISTOL, Va. – Leaving rail out of a plan to relieve congestion on Interstate 81 would be a mistake.
And widening the interstate and paying for it with tolls would be too intrusive and expensive.
Those messages were repeated by speaker after speaker Wednesday, during a Virginia Department of Transportation public hearing on a study of possible solutions for I-81.
Thirty of the 140 people who attended the hearing at the Holiday Inn Hotel voiced their concerns to a panel of transportation officials. The panel included Jim Givens, VDOT’s Bristol district administrator, and Commonwealth Transportation Board members Jim Bowie of Bristol and James Keen of Vansant.
The study, which is the agency’s first step in undertaking major highway improvements, includes a number of options like adding lanes along the 325 miles in Virginia and charging tolls of commercial trucks and private vehicles.
Wednesday’s event was the third of six public hearings along the interstate corridor.
“This study is seriously flawed,” said Bob Barker of Gate City. “The study is only concerned with I-81 in Virginia, but rail needs a minimum of 500 miles to be economically competitive. There is broad regional support for a rail alternative ... Rail has to be part of the solution.”
Jean Bratton of Emory told board members that rail makes sense because it would create less air pollution than truck traffic, take less land than roadway expansion and uses less energy to move more freight.
“As for the idea of charging truck tolls, if even a few trucks divert to (U.S. Highway) 11, it was not built to sustain that kind of traffic. If that traffic happens, you’ll have a real problem maintaining the road,” Bratton said.
Flaccavento of Abingdon called the proposal a “very bad investment” because it would impact the local environment, quality of life and scenic beauty.
Jeff Welch of the Knoxville Regional Planning Organization called the study “short-sighted” for not considering Tennessee’s financial support for improving rail infrastructure from Memphis to Bristol. He also urged officials to consider the environmental impact of increasing truck traffic in all areas affected by I-81.
Bristol Virginia Mayor Doug Weberling reiterated the city’s support of making railroads a part of the solution to the crowded interstate and urged VDOT to work with Tennessee and other states in a long-range plan to expand railroads.
“For this location, tolls would be the nail in the coffin,” Weberling said. “It’s hard enough to get companies to come here. If it’s going to cost a company anything more to ship something to Richmond, that company is going to go somewhere else to save money.”
Other speakers criticized VDOT’s relationship with STAR Solutions, a group that authored the original expansion plan, and questioned why the agency would consider a plan that could cost $11 billion to $15 billion.
Since she was unable to stay for the public hearing, Beth Jaspers of Norton arrived early and wrote her comments on forms supplied by the department.
“I drive I-81 a lot and I know there’s a lot of traffic,” she said. “I’m also very familiar with New Jersey and New York. The more you increase the lanes, the more traffic you have.”
Jaspers said she also favors diverting commercial freight to rail and is concerned about the environmental impact of more vehicle traffic.
The public comment period will continue until April 29, according to Chris Collins, VDOT’s project studies manager. Then, the agency will compile comments and other data and make a recommendation to the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
That recommendation is expected later this summer and the state board is likely to take some action this year, Collins said.
“This is tier one, which is very general,” Collins said of the study. “If there is a build decision, that would be followed by subsequent studies.”
dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532 |||
April 13, 2006 - The Washington Post
Fighting a Plan to Widen I-81 in a Valley of Battlefields
By Linda Wheeler
Nearly a dozen Civil War battlefields in the Shenandoah Valley are facing a new threat, even as foundations rush to raise money to buy the historic grounds ahead of developers. The new concern is a proposal by the Virginia Department of Transportation to substantially widen Interstate 81, the major north-south highway that runs through the state from West Virginia to Tennessee.
Battlefield lands that have long been considered "safe" from development because of federal and state recognition as historic sites could be sliced through or lopped off by the addition of as many as eight lanes to the divided four-lane highway. A proposed bypass at Harrisonburg would cut into the Port Republic and Cross Keys battlefields.
Visitors view Civil War cannons at the New Market Battlefield in western Virginia as traffic rolls along adjacent Interstate 81. The state has proposed widening I-81 through Civil War battlefields in the Shenandoah Valley.
The Shenandoah Valley, where three years of bloody campaigning led to more than 325 military engagements and the loss of nearly 4,000 lives, represents a major chapter in the history of the war. It was where Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson carried out his successful 1862 campaign, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee rode to take the war north to Gettysburg and Union Gen. Philip Sheridan torched agricultural resources in 1864 to undermine the Confederate Army base.
Last month, the Civil War Preservation Trust joined the fight on the side of preservationists, environmentalists and residents who oppose the state's remedy to accommodate increasing truck traffic along the 325 miles of the interstate through Virginia.
Local groups have proposed an alternative plan, named "Reasonable Solutions for I-81," that would encourage the state to make spot improvements where needed for truck safety, expand the highway into the existing median, increase law enforcement patrols and allow for an expanded role by the railroads to carry freight.
On March 1, Jim Lighthizer, the trust's president, held a news conference on the New Market Battlefield, flanked by the historic 1825 Bushong House and I-81. The New Market Battlefield is already split by I-81, with monuments on each side.
Lighthizer announced that his organization had included the Shenandoah Valley battlefields on its 2006 list of most endangered sites.
"I suggest that if the proposal is accepted, it is a travesty," Lighthizer said. "When Sheridan came through the valley and burned everything, if you liked that, you'll love this plan. The only difference is that after Sheridan, the valley did heal, but with this plan, it will never heal."
The trust has a good track record in rescuing battlefields. The 75,000-member organization, devoted to preserving battlefield land through purchases, conservation easements and partnerships with federal, state and local governments, has protected 22,300 acres at 95 sites in 19 states.
Lighthizer is putting the trust's support behind "Reasonable Solutions for I-81: A Six-Point Plan for the Future," which has been endorsed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, the Shenandoah Valley Network and the Valley Conservation Council.
Although the trust carries a great deal of weight in the field of preservation, Lighthizer is quick to say that the fight is not the trust's alone. Residents directly affected by decisions such as widening a road have to lead the fight by attending public hearings, writing their state representatives and voting for politicians who support their side.
It might not be battlefield preservation that motivates someone to stand up to the state; it could be concerns such as noise and pollution, he said.
"You don't have to care about history to care about quality of life," he said. "Let those politicians hear from you. If local folks stand up and say what they won't tolerate, they won't do it."
The affected battlefields are First, Second and Third Winchester, First and Second Kernstown, Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill, Tom's Brook, New Market, Cross Keys and Port Republic.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has scheduled six public hearings and information meetings in the valley this month to discuss the Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement. This is the first step in a long process; the next is a vote by the Commonwealth Transportation Board on the statement.
The environmental impact statement and the schedule of meetings can be found at http://www.I-81.org . Click on "I-81 Tier 1 DEIS" for the statement and "I-81 Facts Sheets" for the schedule.
Linda Wheeler can be reached at 540-465-8934 or cwwheel@shentel.net |||
April 12, 2006 - TriCities.com/WJHL-TV - Johnson City
VDOT Hears Concerns Over I-81 Widening Plans
More than 100 Southwest Virginians voice their concerns over plans for Interstate 81.
The Virginia Department of Transportation is holding public hearings across the state to get input about plans to widen the highway.
In Southwest Virginia, the plan includes adding one lane on each side of the interstate from Bristol to Wytheville.
Tolls may be used to pay for the project.
VDOT says those tolls would not push many drivers away from using I-81.
Still, many people at tonight's public hearing in Bristol, shared their problems with the plan.
Truck drivers like Willie Carter would love to see I-81 widened to six lanes through most of Southwest Virginia.
"I think it's a good idea for safety factors. You can't put a price on safety," Carter said.
But the price could be anywhere from five to $13 b