Virginia

[Beltway]

It wouldn't cost $100 million to replace the bridge.

You're the one who refuted the figure, so reasonably you should backup your argument with evidence to support it. The only thing you offered was a rural bridge replacement project in Richmond that was only two 3-lane bridges with no connecting interchanges. If you had brought up some major 10 - 14 lane bridge was recently replaced on some urban interstate in Virginia and it cost only $30 million, that would be reasonable.

That is just the problem, how many "major 10 - 14 lane bridge was recently replaced on some urban interstate in Virginia" are there?  None!

Now that you keep picking and picking at this issue, I have been ready.

The current [Witchduck Road] bridge is 154 feet wide and 188 feet long, and has 4 spans.  The new bridge could be considerably shorter and have one long span over Witchduck Road underneath.  The abutments could utilize MSE walls, which are a lot cheaper than the days when that would be a massive reinforced concrete backwall from ground to bridge level.  See the new bridges on I-64 over Nine Mile Road in Henrico County, they were made considerably shorter with a similar situation to the above.

The bridges are quite comparable as far as span length and potential new design.  The Nine Mile Road new bridges each have one 92-foot span and each bridge is 62 feet wide.

So that is 124 feet of width.  Six 12 foot lanes could be fit under an 92-foot span.  Add 50% to the 124 feet to get 186 feet which should be ample for I-264.

Per the 2017 Six-Year Program the new Nine Mile Road bridges cost $9.5 million for construction.  So add 50% more and you get about $15 million.

[LM117]

Gov. Northam is proposing raising the gas tax by 4 cents a year over a 3-year period, then tie the revenue to inflation. He also wants to do away with vehicle safety inspections and cut vehicle registration fees by half.

https://wtvr.com/2019/12/17/governor-northam-budget/

[sprjus4]

Gov. Northam is proposing raising the gas tax by 4 cents a year over a 3-year period, then tie the revenue to inflation. He also wants to do away with vehicle safety inspections and cut vehicle registration fees by half.

https://wtvr.com/2019/12/17/governor-northam-budget/

Heard about this the other day... For once, I'm actually supportive of one of Governor Bl... Governor Northam's proposals.

My only skepticism is with the gas tax increase. If it goes forth, there better be some evident progress with road projects around the state being accelerated.

[Beltway]

Gov. Northam is proposing raising the gas tax by 4 cents a year over a 3-year period, then tie the revenue to inflation. He also wants to do away with vehicle safety inspections and cut vehicle registration fees by half.
https://wtvr.com/2019/12/17/governor-northam-budget/

Heard about this the other day... For once, I'm actually supportive of one of Governor Bl... Governor Northam's proposals.
My only skepticism is with the gas tax increase. If it goes forth, there better be some evident progress with road projects around the state being accelerated.

He did something to his face, but I will have to think carefully about whether I will support these tax increases.  Actually he looks like a used car salesman.

[sprjus4]

Gov. Northam is proposing raising the gas tax by 4 cents a year over a 3-year period, then tie the revenue to inflation. He also wants to do away with vehicle safety inspections and cut vehicle registration fees by half.
https://wtvr.com/2019/12/17/governor-northam-budget/

Heard about this the other day... For once, I'm actually supportive of one of Governor Bl... Governor Northam's proposals.
My only skepticism is with the gas tax increase. If it goes forth, there better be some evident progress with road projects around the state being accelerated.

He did something to his face, but I will have to think carefully about whether I will support these tax increases.  Actually he looks like a used car salesman.

If the tax increases can visibly accelerate long-delayed projects, such as on I-64, I-95, I-81, I-73, and other urban projects, then I'm all for it.

But if it's not going to make a difference or not accelerate anything, then it's just another money grab.

[Beltway]

Heard about this the other day... For once, I'm actually supportive of one of Governor Bl... Governor Northam's proposals.
My only skepticism is with the gas tax increase. If it goes forth, there better be some evident progress with road projects around the state being accelerated.

He did something to his face, but I will have to think carefully about whether I will support these tax increases.  Actually he looks like a used car salesman.

If the tax increases can visibly accelerate long-delayed projects, such as on I-64, I-95, I-81, I-73, and other urban projects, then I'm all for it.
But if it's not going to make a difference or not accelerate anything, then it's just another money grab.

That is the problem with road use tax increases, sometimes the new revenues just get siphoned off into funding non-road use programs.

[plain]

Heard about this the other day... For once, I'm actually supportive of one of Governor Bl... Governor Northam's proposals.
My only skepticism is with the gas tax increase. If it goes forth, there better be some evident progress with road projects around the state being accelerated.

He did something to his face, but I will have to think carefully about whether I will support these tax increases.  Actually he looks like a used car salesman.

If the tax increases can visibly accelerate long-delayed projects, such as on I-64, I-95, I-81, I-73, and other urban projects, then I'm all for it.
But if it's not going to make a difference or not accelerate anything, then it's just another money grab.

That is the problem with road use tax increases, sometimes the new revenues just get siphoned off into funding non-road use programs.

Let's just hope that if this does happen that it will go towards the much needed improvements on VA's highways.



Also, while I got your attention Beltway, you and I were discussing the RUNAWAY TRUCK RAMP on I-95 a couple years back at the Belvidere Toll Plaza. I saw this a few minutes ago, a Fredericksburg newspaper posted an article earlier this year about the HOT lanes in NOVA and they have an image of it. They say it's from 1991. The toll plaza was also expanded (they said 18 lanes but I count 16).

https://www.fredericksburg.com/news/local/interstate-comes-full-circle-on-tolls/article_80540531-21e3-5bc3-8391-e5432d740fe3.html


SM-S820L

[1995hoo]

They need to come up with some means of ongoing taxation for alternative-fuel vehicles that aren't subject to the gas or diesel tax.

[Beltway]

Also, while I got your attention Beltway, you and I were discussing the RUNAWAY TRUCK RAMP on I-95 a couple years back at the Belvidere Toll Plaza. I saw this a few minutes ago, a Fredericksburg newspaper posted an article earlier this year about the HOT lanes in NOVA and they have an image of it. They say it's from 1991. The toll plaza was also expanded (they said 18 lanes but I count 16).

That's it!

I wish I had taken photos of it back when it existed, it was removed when the toll plaza was removed in 1993.

I can see the design, where it reached about 20 feet high at the end, and had stone and gravel bedding in the concrete ramp structure.

[NJRoadfan]

My only skepticism is with the gas tax increase. If it goes forth, there better be some evident progress with road projects around the state being accelerated.

It seems to have helped in NJ. At least they cut the grass and clean up the highways here post tax increase, plus a ton of repaving projects. The revised NJ gas tax law took a different approach vs. indexing to inflation though. They adjust the rate yearly to compensate for any possible shortfall in the transportation trust fund based on the previous year's receipts. So if people bought less fuel the prior year due to higher prices or a weaker economy, they'll adjust the tax rate up a few cents for the new year to compensate.

[LM117]

Gov. Northam is proposing raising the gas tax by 4 cents a year over a 3-year period, then tie the revenue to inflation. He also wants to do away with vehicle safety inspections and cut vehicle registration fees by half.

https://wtvr.com/2019/12/17/governor-northam-budget/

Heard about this the other day... For once, I'm actually supportive of one of Governor Bl... Governor Northam's proposals.

My only skepticism is with the gas tax increase. If it goes forth, there better be some evident progress with road projects around the state being accelerated.

My sentiment as well.

[hbelkins]

They need to come up with some means of ongoing taxation for alternative-fuel vehicles that aren't subject to the gas or diesel tax.

Those things don't get charged for free, do they?

I know several Sheetz locations have installed Tesla charging banks. Do Tesla drivers get to recharge for free, or do they have to pay the way gasoline users do to refuel? If so, there's the funding mechanism. Put a tax on that service.

And if people install home chargers, place an excise tax on those devices.

Surely, though, there aren't that many electric vehicles that they are eating into gas tax revenues that much.

[deathtopumpkins]

Tesla owners traditionally get to use Superchargers for free. However, they recently changed it so that newly purchased Teslas are only eligible for a set amount of free supercharging (after which it's $0.26/kWh)

Other public EV charging stations charge varying costs. Many are free, especially ones in municipal parking lots. Some charge a nominal per-charge fee (<$10), some charge a monthly fee, some charge a combination. Such is normally up to the property owner.

As for "home chargers", Level 1 charging just plugs right into a regular 120V three-prong outlet. No special charging device required for you to tax. Level 2 charging just requires a 240V large appliance plug (like for a dryer or generator).

[ARMOURERERIC]

The ones at the Sheetz at exit 126 of I40 in Hickory  NC are free to Tesla owners, local electric is only $.096/KwH so that may be why.

[1995hoo]

I didn't mean just electric vehicles. There are various other alternative-fuel vehicles on the road around here, though I expect the numbers will decline now that the HOV exemption is gone.

I do see a LOT of Teslas on the road lately, though. I'll typically see at least one any time I go somewhere.

[hbelkins]

The only other alternative-fuel vehicles that were used around here were powered by natural gas, and they were very rare, and owned usually only by those who owned or worked at gas companies.

[sprjus4]

https://twitter.com/VaDOT/status/1207797909808386048

They built a bypass to alleviate congestion in Downtown, and now they refuse to build a bypass to alleviate congestion on a major local and thru corridor north of Downtown.

The irony.

[Beltway]

They built a bypass to alleviate congestion in Downtown, and now they refuse to build a bypass to alleviate congestion on a major local and thru corridor north of Downtown.
The irony.

They built "Route 29 Solutions" with the bypass-allocated funds, to provide an enhanced local circulator system around and across that section, that provides little in the way of benefits for the thru traffic.

[1995hoo]

The only other alternative-fuel vehicles that were used around here were powered by natural gas, and they were very rare, and owned usually only by those who owned or worked at gas companies.

They were somewhat more common here, along with various other oddities powered by propane and such, and the reason was that they were eligible for the HOV exemption until such was phased out recently as part of the HO/T projects. I knew a couple of guys who had CNG-powered vehicles. One of them had a CNG-powered Dodge Caravan and he later traded it in on a hybrid Camry. I'll have to ask him whether he's keeping the clean-fuel license plate. There's no reason for it anymore, so I'd imagine he'd probably opt to save the $25 a year.

[1995hoo]

Wow.

https://twitter.com/vsppio/status/1208802100278386689?s=21

[famartin]

Wow.

https://twitter.com/vsppio/status/1208802100278386689?s=21

Construction zone plus fog, I think

[sprjus4]

^

Ice & fog. I don't think the construction zone had too much to do with it.

Crazy situation overall though.

[Beltway]

I-64 has low truck percentages.  Lack of trucks in the accidents undoubtedly was a saving factor in preventing fatalities.

[famartin]

^

Ice & fog. I don't think the construction zone had too much to do with it.

Crazy situation overall though.

I'm sure the cattle chute there helped compound things significantly...

[sprjus4]

^

Ice & fog. I don't think the construction zone had too much to do with it.

Crazy situation overall though.

I'm sure the cattle chute there helped compound things significantly...

If you're referring to the narrow bridge, the bridge has always been that narrow. The speed limit at the time of this wreck was only posted 55 mph due to the work zone, but is normally 70 mph. Once the current project expanding this section of I-64 to three lanes each and replacing this particular bridge, the new bridge will have three lanes each way with full left and right shoulders.