On Transportation, Allen and Webb Share Views

The privately financed express lanes are considered a way to build expensive capacity at little cost to taxpayers. The automatically collected tolls would fluctuate based on the amount of traffic, ensuring that the lanes would be congestion-free. Buses and carpools would travel free.

At the same time, traditional state-funded road-building is stuck in the slow lane because of a lack of consensus on how to pay for more roads and transit projects. The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority has identified more than $17 billion in highway and transit needs across the region, a figure that would require nearly $700 million a year during the next 25 years.

State legislators failed to come up with a plan for additional roads and rail funding in a special session last month. Earlier this year, Kaine proposed raising taxes on cars and insurance and increasing other fees to raise $1 billion for transportation. The effort failed.

"Jim thinks the federal role is to help fund Tim Kaine's plan," Todd said. "Before any new taxes are levied on Virginia consumers, Jim believes we should make sure Virginia is getting its fair share of federal gas tax dollars back."

Allen served as Virginia governor from 1994 to 1998, and his campaign released a three-page list of transportation projects and studies that were completed on his watch. Campaign officials said he has done more while on Capitol Hill.

"Senator Allen has a very real record of accomplishment working with Senator [John W.] Warner and congressmen Davis and Wolf on a variety of projects that directly affect Northern Virginia. Our opponent does not," said Dick Wadhams, Allen's campaign manager. "That is the clear difference."

But critics blame Allen for gutting VDOT during his term as governor by offering a buyout that cost the agency 11 percent of its workforce, including a sizable number of experienced engineers. Some of the subsequent problems with project delays, cost overruns and weak oversight can be traced back to the exodus, critics say.

"That's absolute nonsense," said Robert E. Martinez, who was Allen's transportation secretary. He said the state's transportation and maintenance budget grew during Allen's tenure.

Martinez said Allen stopped the raiding of the transportation trust fund to pay for other government services and introduced legislation that allowed for the kind of public-private partnerships that are making the toll-road projects possible.

"Transportation was not a problem issue during George Allen's tenure," Martinez said.