THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411110332
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY W. KEVIN ARMSTRONG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
The mayor wants to keep 'em coming a few years longer; the governor says he's ready to call 'em quits.
The House of Delegates voted to kill 'em; the state Senate kept 'em alive.
Tolls can be a pesky problem for rush-hour motorists, but they've proven equally perplexing for the city's politicians.
What's at stake is the cost of your commute between the oceanfront and I-64.
Route 44 travelers have been tossing dimes and quarters into toll baskets along the east-west artery for a quarter-century now, but that might soon end. Then again, maybe not.
The expressway fees were originally slated to expire once the bond debt used to finance the state roadway was paid off. That milestone has already been reached: a debt of about $7 million remains to be paid, but more than $32 million stands in reserves.
So what's the deal? Why not pay the bill and be done with it?
Well, there are road improvements to be made, argue those who support keeping the tolls a little longer. The City Council, for example, would like to see soundwalls erected along portions of the 14-mile expressway and the interchanges at Witchduck and Rosemont roads redesigned.
Tolls won't raise enough money for those projects, which total $48 million, until sometime after the turn of the century. That's why state Sen. Clarence Holland convinced his colleagues in the General Assembly to kill a bill earlier this year that called for removal of the tolls on Jan. 1, 1995.
Del. Frank Wagner was co-sponsor of that bill in the House, which passed it. He argues that the road is maintained by the state and that those improvements could be paid for partly by what's left in the reserves and the rest by competing for the same funds the state uses to maintain its other 28,000 miles of roadways.
Wagner says few others around the commonwealth have to cover their costs by paying tolls, so why should Beach residents and other users?
That issue will certainly resurface after the first of the year when the General Assembly opens its next session.
But Gov. George Allen may force the issue himself.
He could bypass the legislature by taking the matter to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, a 16-person panel appointed by the governor that makes policy decisions for the state Department of Transportation.
In a letter sent last month to Del. Wagner, the governor indicated that he would like to see the tolls lifted by Oct. 1, 1996, and possibly as soon as next fall.
Facing that new political reality, the City Council two weeks ago decided to change its toll policy. Instead of pleading once again that tolls be preserved, members opted to ask the state to provide substitute revenue for repairing and expanding Route 44.
That's the message they're hoping the city's legislative delegation will take to Richmond in '95.
Meanwhile, Route 44 commuters will keep chucking coins and toll workers will keep collecting 'em until a decision is reached. MEMO: Main story also on page 10.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
The expressway fees were originally slated to expire once the bond
debt used to finance the state roadway was paid off. That milestone
has already been reached: a debt of about $7 million remains to be
paid, but more than $32 million stands in reserves.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH-NORFOLK EXPRESSWAY ROUTE 44 TOLLS by CNB