Issue Position: Transportation

Issue Position

"Our transportation challenges are clear. To attract business and jobs to Virginia, we need to make it easier for citizens to get to work, and for goods to get to the market."
- Former Attorney General Bob McDonnell

To attract business and jobs to Virginia, we need to make it easier for citizens to get to work, and for goods to get to the market. This is also a quality of life issue - Virginians should not be spending hours every day away from their family and life because they are stuck in traffic coming home from work.

We must set priorities - In Northern Virginia, we need to complete rail to Dulles and widen 66 inside the beltway. In Hampton Roads, we need to upgrade Route 460 to interstate quality to improve our great port and hurricane evacuation, and support our military. We also need to widen I-64 and improve the water crossings with a version of the third crossing. In the Valley and Southwest, we need a wider, safer Interstate 81. We must also look beyond roads and expand transit options, including laying the foundations to get high speed passenger rail from Northern Virginia to Richmond to Hampton Roads.

To make this a reality, Bob McDonnell will leverage our resources more effectively, create more public-private partnerships, implement much-needed budget prioritization, use our AAA bond rating, and use innovative ideas such as dedicating some of the new revenues from offshore drilling for oil and natural gas to fund essential transportation investments. Bob also supports using smart technology to increase efficiency, such as traffic light coordination.

As a legislator and Attorney General, Bob McDonnell worked hard to secure transportation funding and advance important projects for the Commonwealth. McDonnell sponsored several Constitutional Amendments to protect Transportation Trust Fund dollars from being raided for other government spending. He also sponsored a resolution urging Congress to return to Virginia and other "donor" states more of their federal gas tax dollars for federal road building projects, and legislation to improve and modernize the Public Private Transportation Act to get more private entities involved in transportation construction projects in Virginia. As Attorney General, Bob McDonnell led the bipartisan effort to pass the largest source of transportation funding in decades. This legislation will result in $300 million per year for 10 years.

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