THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502120089
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Take heart, Hampton Roads commuters. The tolls on the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway are not only coming off, they are likely to be eliminated three months sooner than expected.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board in November voted unanimously to remove all tolls on Route 44, effective Oct. 1.
But a General Assembly bill that would remove the tolls July 1 already has cleared the Senate, and it is expected to get an overwhelming nod from the House of Delegates this week.
A smiling Sen. Clarence A. ``Clancy'' Holland, D-Virginia Beach, sponsor of the bill, called a news conference Saturday at Mount Trashmore to announce the details.
If the measure is approved and signed by the governor - as legislators expect it will be - Holland could reap the credit for saving motorists about $2.3 million in quarters and dimes over the three-month period.
``It'll give people a little break,'' he said.
But that wasn't the only reason Holland was smiling.
In a year when Democrats keep turning would-be Republican victories into could-be Republican embarrassments, the Route 44 tolls may be yet another political smite. And the Beach's senior senator, in this case, wields the might.
Holland has fought for years to keep the tolls on the expressway, arguing that the more than $10 million per year in toll revenue was needed to continually upgrade the and interchanges.
Holland wanted the tolls to stay at least until new interchanges were constructed at Witchduck and Rosemont roads - probably through 2000, once maintenance and expenses are considered.
But when Gov. George F. Allen last fall asked that the tolls be lifted, Holland realized he couldn't do a thing to stop it. He decided instead to deny Republicans the credit - and claim it himself.
``If they're coming down anyway, why wait?'' Holland asked last week. ``Besides, I wasn't going to be upstaged by the governor in my own district.''
Yes, it was supposed to be the Republicans who got the tolls off Route 44.
Del. Frank W. Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, pushed a bill last year that would have removed them Jan. 1. It passed easily in the House, then lawmakers in the Senate killed the plan with a barrage of amendments.
The senator who ordered the artillery: Holland.
So, the governor moved to remove the tolls himself, and he got the transportation board to concur. Allen had argued that most pending improvement projects could be paid for with toll revenue by Oct. 1.
The date also was just over a month before election day.
``I don't quite think that was a mistake,'' noted Holland.
Holland decided there was only one other option: Take the tolls off earlier and take the credit, too.
So Holland offered his bill to remove the tolls July 1 and shepherded it to a unanimous victory in the Senate.
And who can stop him now?
Republicans aren't expected to kill his bill in the House because of the political liability of delaying the demise of what many consider to be a roadway menace, Holland acknowledged.
Asked last week about Holland's change of heart, Wagner sighed and said: ``I'm glad he's come around.''
The governor could veto the bill, which isn't expected to happen, or he could add an emergency clause to the bill when the General Assembly meets to consider vetoes - and move the date up even sooner.
``I'd be surprised if he did that, but I'd like to see him try,'' Holland beamed before a television camera Saturday. ``I'd like to help him do it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Gov. George F. Allen
Sen. Clarence Holland
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY TOLL ROADS by CNB