Policy Clearinghouse

Redirecting Traffic in Downtown Richmond

The city of Richmond, VAis hoping to alleviate confusion and congestion for downtown drivers by converting one-way streets into two-way streets.  City leaders and urban planners hope the move will make Richmond, particulary the convention center area, a more walkable, drivable and commerce-friendly destination.  Here's an excerpt from a Richmond Times-Dispatch article:

Richmond is poised to take a much bigger step that promises to transform the neighborhoods around the convention center, making them easier to navigate by car and much friendlier to people on foot or bicycle. The city is about to hire a consultant to determine the most efficient way to reverse the web of one-way streets that have made downtown Richmond a puzzle for anyone trying to reach a destination that's in plain sight.

"It's so hard to get around downtown," said Charles W. Finley, president of the Historic Jackson Ward Association, which represents the neighborhood that the city hopes will blossom around the convention center.

For Richmond, the conversion of one-way streets is perhaps the most critical step in making a reality of the Downtown Master Plan, adopted almost two years ago with a vision of bringing life and commerce back to streets that had become impersonal thoroughfares.

Check out Richmond plans conversion of one-way streets downtown 

Heart of the Triad Master Plan

Successful regional leadership demands perseverance.

 

As participant in the first round of the ACCE-Ford Foundation Regional Sustainable Development Fellowship in 2006, Gayle Anderson, President and CEO of the Greater Winston-Salem (NC) Chamber, began creating a development strategy for a key area in the Triad, North Carolina region. She set out to create a combined land use and transportation master plan for a 7,500 acre area between the Triad region’s three major cities – Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem. This piece of land, now know as Heart of the Triad, is home to several major employers, borders the region’s airport, and is crossed by 3 primary interstate highways.  With those kind of assets, the area is poised for growth.

 

However, the land is divided among 2 counties and 6 cities or townships.  With 8 separate municipal governments to coordinate, it isn't easy to create a common vision for sustainable growth.  But Gayle and her counterparts in the region kept at it.  This June, after four years and a lot of perseverance, a strategic planning  committee comprised of elected officials from each district approved a comprehensive transportation and land use plan for the area called Heart of the Triad: A Collaborative Plan for Economic Vitality and Quality of Life.  Click for more info on the plan.

 

They are not done yet, but Heart of the Triad is another example of how chambers can maintain vision beyond the next election cycle and coordinate stakeholders to transcend borders. 

How to Pay for Roads?

Memorial Day weekend is here and thousands of Americans are hitting the highways. I'll know it's a holiday weekend for sure when I see half the residents of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts as I crawl my way along I-95 south in Virginia this afternoon.  As I'm sitting in line to get home today, I will join our Congressional Representatives in thinking about transportation funding.

According to the Journal of Commerce,a transportation industry publication, bipartisan consensus is emerging around a comprehensive transportation bill, but there are wide differences of opinion on how to fund it.  Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., called a proposed gas tax hike political suicide for Democrats saying:  “If they passed a gas tax now, not only would I be (transportation committee) chairman, there would be no minority members.”

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the highways and transit subcommittee, favors a multi-pronged approach to funding, but notes the need for substantial new revenue. “Public-private partnerships, infrastructure banks – those are all nice side things, but the problem is we need a substantial increase in direct investment in our national transportation system on a multimodal basis. That means the T-word.”

Read more at:  Lawmakers Bare Partisan Divide On Highway Taxes

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is also thinking about transportation funding.  He was in Washington this week stumping for a new highway bill.  Here's what he said about the public's willingness to support infrastructure spending:

“The most fascinating thing about the polls is the public is willing to pay for infrastructure improvements but they want them to be transparent, they want them to be accountable and they want them to be subject to some sort of merit-based cost-benefit analysis,” Rendell said.

Transportation legislation suffers from a poor reputation from the last highway bill, which included a number of controversial earmarks, including the “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska that was highlighted during the 2008 presidential race.

Rendell indicated the next highway bill must be transparent.

“That necessarily doesn’t mean the end of earmarks, but it does mean the major projects need to go through some sort of major review,” he said. 

Read more in this article from The Hill: Supporters of new highway spending legislation turn to new arguments.

As you sit in traffic on the way to the lake, beach or mountains, take a moment to consider our national transportation infrastructure and the mechanisms that fund its maintenance and expansion.

High Speed Rail Advice

From Florida to California, metropolitan regions are taking a harder look at investment in high speed passenger rail.  The interest is fueled by $8 billion worth of stimulus funds that were earmarked for high speed rail development.  Allocation of those funds was announced in late January - for information on the 13 rail corridors that received seed money from the stimulus bill CLICK HERE.

High speed rail has its share of advocates and skeptics.  Regardless of which camp you're in, I recommend reading: Five Things You Need To Know About High-Speed Rail by David J. Carol, Market Leader of High-Speed Rail at Parsons Brinkerhoff.This succinct article from Planetizen.com discusses opportunities and challenges and is good reading for anyone new to passenger rail policy.

 

Gas Tax on the Table

Increasing the Federal gas tax is very much on the discussion table in Washington these days.  Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is pushing for a $550 billion federal transportation program that would include a 5-cent federal gas tax increase.  Speaking in relation to the gas tax, Congressman Oberstar said:

"The maintenance and improvement of our transportation infrastructure has fallen well behind our needs...An increase in the tax that funds these projects is long overdue."  Click HERE for more.

Currently the Federal Gas Tax is set at a fixed rate of 18.4 cents per gallon.  It hasn't increased since 1993, and overall revenue from the tax has declined as automobile efficiency has improved.

Transportation Secretary LaHood has mentioned indexing the federal gas tax, along with tolling, bonds, and a miles traveled tax, as a possible revenue stream to fund transportation infrastructure projects.  At a summit in Texas this week LaHood said:

"Congress wants to pass a very robust transportation bill in the neighborhood of $400 billion or $500 billion, and we know the highway trust fund is just deficient in its ability to fund those kinds of projects."

Click to read more from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The Feds aren't the only ones looking to increase revenue per gallon of fuel, states leaders are also looking at gas tax hikes.  Some legislators in West Virginia are at odds with the Governor over his plan to keep a 5 cent fixed portion of the state's gas tax in place past its original expiration date in 2013.  In Texas, Governor Perry has rebuffed State Senate Transportation Committee Chair and fellow Republican John Corona's proposal to raise the state's gas tax by $.10 per gallon.

Every community has a lane expansion, interchange improvement, or light rail project in planning that would improve mobility and quality of life, how to pay for them is the question.  State bond ratings and public opinion may preclude more debt, and force government at all levels to look at alternative sources of revenue.  Please share comments about gas tax proposals in your city, county or state.

Transportation Secretary LaHood Briefs ACCE Board

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood spoke at the ACCE Board of Directors Meeting last Friday.  He provided a overview of progress on stimulus funded projects (focused on discretionary TIGER grants) and talked about other recent DOT programs like the Cash for Clunkers program and the future focus on high speed passenger rail.

The Secretary also stressed the linkage between transportation and economic development, and touched on potential areas of cooperation between DOT and HUD or Commerce to make sure transportation spending really impacts economic development.

Overall, it was a great session.  You can read more on Sec. LaHood's official DOT blog: Welcome to the Fast Lane.

 

Seattle Chamber Supports Tunnel, Accessible Waterfront

A big issue in Seattle's upcoming mayoral and city council elections is what to do about replacing the Alaska Way Viaduct, an elevated freeway that is currently a physical barrier between downtown Seattle and the Puget Sound.  The options, dig a tunnel and add transit options, or revamp surface transportation.  $2.4 billion in state funding has already been allocated for the tunnel, but campaign rhetoric suggests the battle is not over.

The Greater Seattle Chamber has been actively involved in this issue for a long timehas lent their voice to the debate with a chairman's message that builds that clearly builds the case for the tunnel.  The call to action - forward to message to friends, family and colleagues to set the record strait.  Here is an excerpt from that message -

" ...instead of getting a world-class waterfront which our citizens can enjoy, the surface option would have given us a super-sized parking lot for cars and trucks on the waterfront, downtown and I-5. Indeed, an independent consultant retained by the city of Seattle concluded that the surface plan would have undermined the livability of downtown and its pedestrian feel by choking up city streets. Our citizens deserve better."

This is a great example of a chamber community leadership in helping maintain focus on long-term priorities - effective transportation and a walkable waterfront - in the face of loud political rhetoric.

Click HERE to read the full message from the Chair of the Seattle Chamber.

Click HERE for more details on this story from the Seattle PI.

Stimulus Spending - Best and Worst

Funding for transportation projects through the Economic Stimulus Package came with the expectation that it would get spent, quickly.  Now House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar wants you to know which states are living up to the quick spending expectations and which are not.

According to Oberstar Wyoming is the best of the 50 States, having already spent or committed 76% of allocated stimulus funds.  They are followed by New Hampshire and Oklahoma at 64% and 53 % respectively.  Worst in the nation are Florida, Hawaii and South Carolina which have spent or committed less than 3% of allocated stimulus funds.

Click to read the article from the Christian Science Monitor

Click to HEREto read Oberstar's letters to the Governors fo the best and worst performing states.  The House Transportation Committee website also provides access to state-by-state information on how much stimulus transportation money has been spent.

Regions Seek Rail Money

Across the country, regions are teaming up with state departments of transportation to request federal funding of high speed rail projects.

In Virginia state officials will ask for $1.6 billion in stimulus funds to improve existing rail infrastructure along I-95 corridor connecting the Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Alexandria and Washington DC.  Read more about plan in this Washington Post article.

Florida, too, is seeking federal support for high speed rail.  They have a plan to connect Miami with Tampa via Orlando.  The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce has voiced support for the plan.  Click for the Miami Herald story.

What stimulus projects is your region currently seeking?  Has your chamber endorsed potential stimulus funded infrastructure plans?  Leave a comment...

Looming Crisis in Federal Transportation Funds

This Wednesday, Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Pocari sent a letter warning state transportation departments that the Federal Highway Trust Fund is short on cash.  In the near term, this shortfall will impact reimbursements to states for federally funded highway projects, potentially  impacting state's payments to contractors and thus threatening highway construction jobs.

Click here to read the press release from AASHTO (the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials)

In the longer term, this shortfall underscores the need for a stable, sustained source of funding for transportation in America.  Changing driving habits - partially a result of the economic downturn - and increased vehicle fuel efficiency are contributing to a decrease in gas tax revenue, the traditional funding stream for transportation.  The Obama administration has called for an 18 month extension of highway funding at existing levels to give Congress time to reach a longer term solution.  A letter this week to Obama from 43 House Democrats from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee calls, instead, for "a six-year, $500 billion bill that would increase highway aid 40 percent and double transit funding."

Click to read more in this article from the Seattle Times.