We're still in the phase-out period for the car tax, and localities aren't complaining about any loss of funds yet. But the tobacco companies are invoking a clause of the settlement agreement that allows their obligation to be reduced as cigarette sales decline. And they are declining. Smoking seems so much less-prevalent that it was just a few years ago, there is really no telling how much money Virginia will end up with. This is the time of year when local roads are truly put to the test.
Few people are out of town between the holidays and everyone who usually stays home is out shopping.
The holiday season will test State Route 3's traffic-signal synchronization plan west of I 95. It has been working well so far, leaving Fredericksburg embarrassed by its inability to smooth the flow east of the interstate. That Has No Solution. Of course, if you can't make it better, but you want to do something, the alternative is to make it worse. When VDOT gets around to closing a lane of U.S. 17 for a construction project, the worst will indeed become worse.