WASHINGTON — If Virginia doesn’t get federal funding, certain road projects could be abandoned for good.
Two years after the state passed a comprehensive transportation tax package, which took 27 years, there’s no stomach to raise much-needed funds for road improvements, says Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne.
So he’s pressuring the federal government to do its part, he says.
Half of Virginia’s transportation construction budget is federally funded, so state officials have lobbied the federal government to reverse its waning transportation support. From 2008 to 2013, Virginia has lost $78 million in federal transportation funds.
The problem is that federal investment keeps declining as revenue keep declining, says Bob Chase with the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance.
The federal gas tax, which goes into the federal “Highway Trust Fund,” hasn’t increased since 1993.
That means states get less federal transportation funding.
“The pot of money remains the same while the needs continue to grow,” Chase says. “Federal neglect of the nation’s transportation infrastructure is really appalling. All across the country states are stepping up to do more, to do their share, and the federal government is doing less.”
Year after year, Congress declines to provide adequate support. “It’s Virginia, it’s Maryland,” Chase concludes. “Roads across the nation, interstates across the nation are falling apart. It’s documented and the problems keep getting greater.”
