Comments By
Hampton Mayor Ross A. Kearney, II
At Governor-Elect Kaine's
Transportation Forum

November 21, 2005

• I would first like to thank Governor-elect Tim Kaine for his leadership in brining us here tonight to discuss how to fix our transportation system in Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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• We are at a critical juncture in the state's transportation history and we need to act now to address critical transportation problems.
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• These problems are only getting worse due to increases in our population, in the number of vehicles on the road, and in the number of vehicle miles traveled.
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• If these problems are not addressed they will threaten the economic vibrancy and quality of life for our community.
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• And, the state's current transportation funding picture is only getting bleaker as maintenance funds gradually consume all transportation revenues, leaving no money available for construction of new transportation infrastructure.
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• There are some promising positive signs in state transportation - we have seen VDOT taking on localities as full partners in managing the transportation program, such as through the First Cities Initiatives for Urban cities.

Global Concerns

• We need strong state leadership to work with elected officials and the public to come up with a dedicated statewide sustainable transportation-funding source that is not subject to changing political priorities to ensure that the funding will be available in the coming decades, which is how long it's going to take to address our transportation needs.
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• We also need to continue to build on the successes of the locally administered transportation funds and streamline the process to make it more efficient.

Hampton's Concerns

• Hampton Roads' transportation problems are unique in this state because of our waterways, which require more expensive bridges and tunnels to cross the region.
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• While we recognize that the regional leadership has determined improving the Monitor Merrimac Bridge Tunnel and I-664 as a priority, Hampton is most concerned about making improvements to the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.
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• HRBT is currently overcapacity and handled an average of 92,000 vehicles per day for the first 10 months of 2005, compared to 53,000 vehicles per day on the MMBT.
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• Also, HRBT is less expensive than the third crossing project ($2.7 billion vs. $4.6 billion) and can pay for itself while significant additional revenue streams are needed to pay for the third crossing at the MMBT.
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• HRBT also includes a mass transit component while the third crossing does not.
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• Other regional leaders support the third crossing at MMBT to accommodate the truck traffic from the ports but we can not forget the importance of moving people through the most populous area of our region.
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• Studies show that the third crossing at MMBT:
• Will not relieve traffic congestion at HRBT - in fact it will increase with 98,000 vehicles per day projected to travel the HRBT by 2026; and
• Will result in major traffic backups to route 17 during construction.

• We can not afford to have the traffic congestion generated by the bottle neck at HRBT and MMBT during the construction phase of the third crossing to choke the life out of the Hampton economy with no relief in sight.
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• Hampton also strongly supports improvements to route 460 - this is a vital project for the region to not only support commerce but, particularly for evacuating during a crisis situation.

Conclusion

We have the wisdom and the talent to solve this problem we just need the political will and the leadership to ensure Virginia's future mobility and accessibility. I would again like to thank Governor-elect Kaine for taking the first step by providing this leadership.

On behalf of the City of Hampton and the Hampton Roads region, thank you for listening and we stand with you in focusing on Virginia's transportation needs for the 21st century.