Awaiting Voters' Verdict on Road Plan

In congested Northern Virginia, it's hard to find a candidate who fails to list fighting traffic snarls as a top priority. The race in House District 86 is no different.

But after watching years of failed attempts to find major new money for roads, voters in the district, which covers western Fairfax County and part of Loudoun County, are set to pass electoral judgment on a key architect of a rare transportation breakthrough in Richmond.

Whether they liked what they saw, or recoiled, will go a long way toward determining the fate of Del. Thomas Davis Rust (R-Fairfax).

"This is a huge step forward. Huge," said Rust, a former Herndon mayor who was a crucial backer of the measure. "It is the first time in the history of Virginia that we've ever had a dedicated source of revenue that was raised in Northern Virginia, stays in Northern Virginia and is spent in Northern Virginia, in projects selected by local elected officials, not VDOT in Richmond."

The plan adds hundreds of millions a year for transportation statewide and allows Northern Virginia officials to raise more than $400 million each year through a host of fees. Stiff penalties for driving infractions have been criticized sharply by some local officials, potential voters and others and have been challenged as unconstitutional because they apply only to Virginia residents.

Democratic challenger Jay P. Donahue, a former vice chairman of the Herndon Planning Commission, says that the plan hashed out by the General Assembly and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) fails to meet the region's needs. He argued, for instance, that the state is still short $200 million a year on funding for road maintenance.

"Northern Virginia is going to have an additional 500,000 residents by 2030," Donahue said, roughly echoing projections by area governments. "The needs are going to be glaring; it has to be dealt with," he said, adding that Rust "seems satisfied" with the current funding package.

Donahue, a former salesman for AAA, the auto services association, said he saw in his travels the sagging state of the commonwealth's infrastructure. But when asked how he proposes to solve the funding shortfall, Donahue repeatedly demurred.

He said "all potential options" in a "number of areas and categories" need to be "completely and thoroughly discussed" but declined to provide specifics, saying only, "I think we should leave that to the next session."

Rust said he would work to modify some of the abusive-driver fees and to apply the law to residents of every state, although he noted that early statistics show an improvement in safety since the higher fees were imposed. He acknowledged that more funding is needed but said that those who fought hardest for the package, including him, are unlikely to gear up again immediately for another big push to increase spending.

"Those of us who have worked on this have spent 2 1/2 years working on it to get to this point, so I don't see us doing any major modification for at least a couple years," said Rust, chairman of an engineering firm specializing in land planning and development. "Are we totally there? No. But we're close. But people have to understand politics is the art of the possible, and this is what was possible."