“The administration has inherited a system that can no longer pay for itself,“ according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He was talking about an expected shortfall in the federal highway trust fund—a problem the administration has actively been seeking to make worse. The trust fund gathers revenue principally from gasoline taxes. Like Virginia’s own gasoline tax, the federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon is not pegged to inflation, so it has lost purchasing power over time. If it had kept pace with prices generally it now would stand between 25 and 30 cents per gallon.

Far be it from skeptics of the federal government’s massive stimulus bill to fault the commonwealth of Virginia for not cutting in line to grab a slice of the pork. That Virginia has “fallen far behind other states in putting to work” stimulus money for road construction, as Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar noted recently, is not the end of the world.

Virginia governors and legislators have fought for a decade over how to fund roads, bridges and transit. In January, a new governor will inherit what Secretary of Transportation Pierce R. Homer calls a crisis in Virginia’s transportation funding. Republican Bob McDonnell has presented a plan with a dozen funding mechanisms, from tolls to privatizing ABC stores. McDonnell opposes tax increases for transportation.

Henrico County has a route set and plans in hand for more than 80 percent of a new 1½-mile connection between West Broad Street and the intersection of Shady Grove and Pouncey Tract roads. The project is meant to ease traffic at one of the busiest intersections in the metro area, and comes before the Board of Supervisors this month for consideration, capital projects coordinator Robert C. Tieman said.

The days of the world’s longest washboard may be numbered. The Commonwealth Transportation Board recently voted to repave I-64 from I-95 to Parham Road, a stretch that has been a disgrace for many years. Repair work will complicate traffic, but the results will be worth the inconvenience. The repavement joins other welcome transportation projects in Central Virginia, which emerged from the latest allocation of highway funds in relatively good shape. The stress falls on “relatively,“ as the recession and other factors have savaged the state’s overall transportation budget.

State officials will hold four public meetings around the state in June and July to gather comments on updating Virginia’s long-range multimodal transportation plan.

Driving on Parham Road in Henrico County can be tedious in the best of times. Between Quioccasin Road and Interstate 64, about 30,800 vehicles travel the four-lane road daily. Now, in addition to regular traffic backups, the county is working on a curb and gutter replacement project intermittently along a 10-mile stretch of Parham Road.

Our Week’s End for March 14 related the story of a friend whose car suffered significant damage when it slammed into a massive pothole while navigating Northern Virginia’s Beltway. The repair bill consumed many hundreds. According to the driver’s calculations, the final tab cost more than the gasoline taxes he would pay over nine years. The accident was in large part a consequence of insufficient maintenance. It might not have occurred if transportation budgets and policies reflected reality. Our friend is not alone.

Snow break comes to an end for Richmond-area students.

Drivers will face a new set of choices tomorrow as they exit Route 288 for Midlothian Turnpike.

POWHATAN—The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors is vowing to take full advantage of President Barack Obama’s economic-stimulus package, pushing 15 construction projects that could be funded. This week, the supervisors adopted a resolution outlining the projects and saying the county “will continue to aggressively investigate other strategies to maximize any stimulus package that will create sustainable jobs, meet escalating human needs and help us build the planned infrastructure for the optimum future of the citizens.“

The industry that builds and maintains Virginia’s roads and bridges has come to a near-standstill and is counting on a jump-start from the president. The quarries that provide stone for asphalt and concrete have laid off employees and closed some operations. Paving companies are waiting to bid on state highway maintenance work so they can determine how many employees they can afford to call back in the spring from seasonal layoffs that were deeper than usual.