Hope for The Best, Expect The Worst

Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer said the state is "back to where we were in 2002," after a referendum raising regional taxes to pay for transportation failed. "And on the expenditure side, we've gone many, many years backward because of the increasing cost of building and maintaining roads and transit systems.

"From a consumer's point of view, the trip from the front door to a major arterial road will be the first to suffer," Homer said. "And then the very quality and integrity of road maintenance and operations will be sorely tested.''

Homer said the state's first priority will always be safety. But the lack of maintenance money means those funds will come out of the budget for new projects, further hurting congestion-relief efforts.

Some Northern Virginia projects will continue, Homer said. The Telegraph Road interchange, part of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, is continuing, as are interchanges on Route 28 in Loudoun. State officials also expect an agreement with the federal government on a Metrorail extension to Dulles by the end of the year. And the state and private companies have begun work on new toll lanes on the Capital Beltway and are negotiating for similar lanes on Interstate 395/95.

The General Assembly also failed to come up with a permanent funding source for Metro, jeopardizing a possible $1.5 billion in federal funds for the regional transit system. Maryland and the District have already committed their share of the money.

That could delay ordering replacements for the 30-year-old Series 1000 railcars, which make up about a third of Metro's rail fleet. The result could be more breakdowns as Metro is breaking ridership records.

"It's devastating,'' said Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille (D), who serves on the Metro board and the NVTA.

U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R) said his bill increasing Metro funding is likely to pass Congress, even though Virginia has not met the legislation's precondition of dedicated funding. Davis blamed Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) for pushing for too much during the special session instead of just fixing the legal issues raised by the state Supreme Court.

"This is all about the blame game,'' said Davis, who is retiring. "Metro was a very easy fix. But now they end up with nothing."

Beverly Parker leaves her Dumfries home at 5 a.m. for her 45-minute commute to her job at Inova Fairfax Hospital. The trip home can take an hour and a half. "Where isn't it bad?" Parker asked. But raising taxes isn't the answer.

"People can't afford any more in taxes. So I think we're just going to have to keep what we have right now and hope for better later, because I can't see any need to stress people out more."

Staff writer Kameel Stanley contributed to this report.