Jerry Kilgore has been busy posturing again, this time on the issue of widening I-66 in both directions inside the Beltway. Just yesterday, he was standing above I-66 (ironically, almost completely clear of traffic when he was there), pandering on an issue where he knows - or should know, if he doesn't -- five things. First, that there is no "extra money" to do anything about this proposal. Second, that if Kilgore really wanted to raise the "extra money" to widen I-66, he would either have to raise taxes or raid the budget for scarce education, public safety, and health care dollars (not to mention other transportation projects around the state, such as in Hampton Roads and Southwest Virginia). Third, that widening I-66 in both directions would BREAK A PROMISE made back in 1977 not to do so, and would run roughshod over the strong objections of Arlingtonians (so much for respecting the rights of localities). Fourth, that I-66 widening would threaten Metro to Tysons Corner and Dulles Airport, since it "eliminates the potential use of the right of way for the expansion of Metrorail" (according to the Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation). This would simply WORSEN congestion, not improve it, by eliminating the "smart growth," public transit alternative. And fifth, that widening I-66 to the Rosslyn Tunnel and Theodore Roosevelt Bridge bottlenecks would accomplish absolutely nothing, since those are, well, BOTTLENECKS! Hello, Jerry, but what are you going to do, try to squeeze more cars through the same narrow opening? Or do you propose having cars speed off the road into the Potomac River? Duh.
Here's Arlington County Board member Paul Ferguson on Kilgore's I-66 Road to Nowhere (or is it the "Highway to Hell?): "This is merely political posturing one week before an election." Now here's the Kaine campaign:
This is just another instance of Jerry Kilgore making promises that he can't keep. He's made it clear he's going to give Virginians two choices: To vote in referenda he will campaign against to raise taxes or sacrifice school funding for the sake of transportation.
Tim Kaine, meanwhile, supports an ongoing project to add a WESTBOUND lane on I-66 inside the Beltway, but has not committed to an additional eastbound lane. In general, Kaine's whole approach to transportation is to look at the problem more broadly, through "better coordination of land-use decisions with planning for road and rails, as well as allowing "localities...to reject development if roads are too congested to support it."
In other words, Tim Kaine is for "smart growth" that respects the wishes of local residents, the environment, and the budget. Jerry Kilgore is for endless sprawl that tramples on all of those things. Jerry Kilgore: for sprawl, budget deficits, pollution and heavy-handed government.