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Finally, after much posturing and crocodile tears, the Governor and the intransigent “no taxes” caucus in the Virginia State House have come to a compromise on transportation funding. For the uninitiated, the Commonwealth has not put any significant new money into the transportation system in over twenty years. The debate on transportation funding has been a biannual bar fight for nearly as long. Virginia was fast approaching a point where all available funds for roads would go to yearly maintenance. In other words, no new road projects in perpetuity. So something had to get done.

Of course, the deal is not perfect. There is a good bit not to like, ones political leanings not withstanding. For example, the plan taps the General Fund for at least $40 million a year. Admittedly, this is relatively small change in the $1 billion dollar a year plan but it opens the door to greater and, as I understand it, not very well defined sums in the future. IMHO – it is generally a bad idea to take money from schools and hospitals to pay for roads.

That said, a flawed deal is far better than doing nothing at all. Anyone that has traveled the Hampton Roads Bridge tunnel or I-66 in NoVa during rush hour knows that traffic barely moves. Another couple of years at current funding levels, it would quit doing even that. New transportation funding is critical to the health of Virginia’s economy. And while it took forever, the folks that run the show made it happen. So hats off to the Legislature and the Governor. Yesterday, y’all earned your money.