HD20 - The Transportation Needs of the Cities South of Hampton Roads
Executive Summary: This study was called for by House Joint Resolution No. 272, passed by the 1986 Session of the Virginia General Assembly. Its goal was to recommend a means of reducing the gap between the highway construction maintenance funds available to the cities south of Hampton Roads and the highway maintenance and construction needs of those cities. The Joint Subcommittee created to carry out this study, in the course of two meetings, met with representatives of the five cities, the Department of Highways and Transportation, the Southeastern Virginia Planning District Commission, and the Tidewater Transportation District Commission. The Joint Subcommittee considered its task to be to recommend to the General Assembly a course of legislative action which, even though it would not eliminate this shortfall, would at least reduce it. The group agreed to recommend to the 1986 Session of the General Assembly legislation which would (i) impose a two percent sales tax on the retail sale of gasoline and diesel fuel in the cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach; (ii) become effective if agreed to by the governing bodies of all five cities; (iii) return the proceeds of the tax to the locality where collected; and (iv) allow each locality to use the proceeds for any highway purpose, including construction, maintenance, or any combination or the two. (A copy of draft legislation carrying out these recommendations is included in this report as Appendix II.) Additionally, owing to the important role played by the facility, both in the region's commuter traffic and also in its tourist industry, the Joint Subcommittee directed its Chairman to write a letter to the Department of Highways and Transportation to urge that all possible steps be taken to mitigate highway congestion associated with the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. |
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