advertisement

---

Last week, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell offered a preview of his transportation agenda during a speech at the Governor's Transportation Conference in Roanoke. He proposes to allocate $4 billion for road, transit and rail projects in the commonwealth during the next three years.

In part, McDonnell’s plan calls for creating a Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank to multiply transportation dollars, directing $150 million to transportation from a budget surplus and modifying state code so Virginia can issue at least $1.1 billion in debt-financed bonds.

“Over the past two decades, state support for transportation has not kept up with our growth as a commonwealth, [and] this has led to more congestion, longer commutes and missed economic opportunities. That trend must be reversed, and this is the time to do it,” said McDonnell in a prepared statement. “We need to get dollars out the door quickly, and road, transit and rail projects under way now. Leveraging our scarce transportation resources to make them go further is smart management.”