Recently, "What Matters" host Cathy Lewis spoke with HRPDC/HRMPO Executive Director, Dwight Farmer; HRPDC/HRMPO member and Newport News Mayor Joe Frank; and Virginia Beach Taxpayer's Alliance Chair, John Moss, for an in-depth look at this little known, federally-mandated, entity that has a major impact on the Hampton Roads transportation issue.
City of Newport News Mayor Joe Frank:
"...it doesn't appear that we're going to have substantial investment in new road programs for the foreseeable future and, I might add, if you had all the money you needed to do these things today, you'd be talking 10 to 15 years before all of the processes took place, the environmental studies, the acquisitions, the engineering studies and the construction so you could actually ride on those roads and then you have the question of what the population is going to be, what are the ridership, what are the needs."
"So, one of the things that I have suggested, and not through the PDC or the MPO, but through the Hampton Roads Partnership, is that they convene the leaders of the largest traffic generators in the region, the colleges, the universities, the military bases, the large manufacturers, the ship yards and so forth, to see if we couldn't voluntarily, because we have no legal basis for requiring it, voluntarily asking these people to consider staggering the times they open and the times they close. If, through that, and you model and simulate that in a very real time way...the data suggests that you could defer the need for all these new road projects for 10 or 15 years, and maybe by that time...you find a way to actually pay for what you've determined you actually need."
Original air date: Fri, Jan 30, 2009
See the complete show: http://www.whro.org/home/html/podcasts/whatmatters/144.mp4
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