Evening star., 1954-01-03
Need Of Funds
For Highways
In Virginia Cited
12-Yeur Report Says
$2S Million More
lsNecessuryAnn Is
THE SUNDAY STAR
Washington, D. G.
SUNDAY, JANUARY. s, 1854
By Alex r. Preston

ISNeceSS0ry Annually
By Alex R. Preston
Although Virginia will take In
$1,000, 100000 for roads during
the next IL years, an average of
$28 million more each year is
needed to keep the system in
1irst-class condition. the High
way Department said in q re-
port released last night.
The 114-page report comes
Just 10 days before the General
Assembly convenes its biennial
session. At the very end Of the
study, the department has this
to say:
"The problem Is this: During
the next IL years, highway needs
will cost $1.375, ,166, 900 to satisfy.
Funds available will be $1,O39,-
$4,000. The difference, between
highway needs and available
funds is $685., ,448, 900, approx
mately $28 million a year.
Unless this amount is made
available the economic well
fare and safety of the State will
be gravely retarded"
Rural Needs Are Biggest.
The State-operated highway
network. which has grown from
1000 to 48,800 miles in 35 years,
has its most pressing backlog Of
needs IN its rural primary sys-
TEN. That constitutes 1886 miles
In length.
Just how, or if, these needs
will be met to keep up with
population growth and heavier
traffic demands will provide one
Of the highlightS Of the forth
coming legislative session. It is
virtually certain. however, that
the State will not depart from
its traditional pay-as-you-go
policy to follow the example of
Maryland which last year
launched 12-year construction
program.
Senator Byrd. whose Demo-
cratic organization holds a tight
rein on the Legislature. fathered
the pay-as-you-go plan when he
was Governor. AS State Sena-
tor in 1923 he sponsored the first
State gasoline tax g centsl. Re-
Gently he said:
Virginia is the only pay-as-
you-go State in the Union that
constructs and maintains the
entire system Of highways, in
cluding contributions to the
cities for main arteries within
their limits. Not one cent is
derived from taxation on other
classes Of property"
Gas Tax Rise Rebuffed.
Last week, the Virginia Ad-
visory Legislative Council turned
down a recommendation Of one
Of its committees that the gaSo-
line tax be increased from 6 to
z cents for an additional $40
million a year.
And Thomas B. Stanley. who
will be inaugurated as the next
Governor on January 20. cam
paigned recently on a platform
generally promising no increases
In taxes.
The highway report says one
Of the most critical factors is a
steadily-mounting backlog Of
needs. 1T is even more disturb
ing that by 1865 there will be
an increase of 73 per cent in the
volume of traffic on our roads, I"
the report said.
The reason IL years are COW
cred in the report is that the
State adopted a 20-year road
plan in 1945. That covered q
period ending in 1865.
The Highway Department. ap-
parently aware of the political
implications involved, steered
clear of specifically listing geo.
graphic areas where needs are
greatest or less. BY way of stat
ing policy, however. it said in its
report:
"It is obvious that Route
from Washington to Richmond
carries a great deal more total
traffic than Route Is from Cor
donville to Culpeper; it is equally
obvious that a great many more
heavy vehicles, trailer-trucks and
buses pass over the former than
the latter.
f"To build Route Is and Route
/ to the same standards would
be a waste of public funds. High
way designers must, therefore,
give careful consideration to the
amount and kind of traffic to be
found on all roads"
Imagine that a typical Vir-
ginia farmer has loaded his
truck and is driving from his
farm to a market in a town 10
miles away" the department
says. For the first two miles
he will travel over the gravel
surface of a secondary road,
then he will leave it for the
paved surface of a primary
system highway. During the
course Of the day, IA other
vehicles will use the same gravel
road, including the rural mail
carrier who makes a delivery to
the farmers house and the bus
which takes the farmers chill
dren to school. the impor-
tance of the secondary system
cannot be measured in terms of
traffic volume alone"
No mention was made of q
recent report of a consulting
firm studying highways in the
Washington Metropolitan Area
That report to the Legislature
last month called for q $1O7
million program in this area
alone.
Problem of Urban Congestion.
The highway report said, how.
ever: "The problem of urban
congestion is equally important
as that Of the iaNdequacies oi
tho Y1f.iYnarv aI1d Sncondorv Svs.