Fairfax at an Off-Ramp

Sick of Virginia's neglect, the county may take control of its local roads.

VIRGINIA'S long-suffering motorists, fed up with excruciating commutes and deteriorating road conditions, haven't been able to shame or pressure state lawmakers into securing adequate funding for roads. Maybe one of the state's wealthiest jurisdictions can.

That, at least, is an underlying objective of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and its chairman, Sharon Bulova (D). Frustrated with waist-high grass in highway medians, pothole-scarred streets and other symptoms of the state's chronic underfunding of transportation, Fairfax is in the early stages of exploring whether to take over the maintenance of some of its roads from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).

The numbers tell a startling story of neglect: In fiscal 2004, Fairfax received $28 million for capital improvements on secondary roads (essentially, local streets); for the current fiscal year, it received $240,000. New traffic signals for one intersection can cost $1.8 million. State lawmakers haven't increased dedicated funding for transportation since raising the gas tax in 1986.

One attention-grabbing option is becoming a city. That would entitle Fairfax to a greater share of transportation dollars under the state's funding formula. For example, Fairfax City, a 6.3-square-mile jurisdiction of 23,000 people, receives about double the funding per lane mile as does Fairfax County, a 395-square-mile jurisdiction of more than 1 million residents. Fairfax officials would also have greater latitude to raise revenue for transportation. It's doubtful, though, that county officials will aggressively push for city status or that the General Assembly would approve such a shift.

The more likely alternative is an agreement with VDOT for Fairfax to take control of its secondary roads. Fairfax would handle maintenance; in exchange, VDOT could direct more maintenance money to the county. Arlington and Henrico counties have similar arrangements with the state.

Fairfax explored -- and rejected -- taking charge of its secondary roads in the early 1990s. The overhead costs, including equipment purchases, were judged too steep, the maintenance gains too small. Since then, state funding has gone from bad to worse, and overhead expenses might not be as dissuasive. County Executive Anthony H. Griffin has been tasked with finding out how much taking control of Fairfax's secondary roads would cost.

It's too soon to tell whether it makes sense for Fairfax to maintain its own roads. But the message county officials are sending to Richmond -- and that Virginia voters should be sending to their gubernatorial candidates -- couldn't be clearer: Find more funding for transportation, and find it soon.