Stafford County has long been trying to improve traffic flow at the Interstate-95/Rt. 630 (Courthouse Road) interchange (Exit 140) and they thought they were on the right track with it being a priority project on the Virginia Department of Transportation FY2014-2019 Six Year Improvement Program (SYIP). That is, until it wasn’t.
In the following FY2015-2020 SYIP funding was cut by $30 million, which could serve to further delay the project and actually increase long-term costs.
That said, there was a public hearing of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) scheduled on May 12 on the FY2015-2020 SYIP. Typically, this is where legislators – local and state – attend to advocate on behalf of projects important to them. And, on May 6, Stafford Supervisor Cord Sterling, Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee, invited Delegate Michael Futrell to attend. Only Del. Futrell didn’t attend…and it might have cost Stafford progress on the project.
“At some point you will engage on issues in service to our constituents in Stafford,” Sterling fumes at Futrell in a June 19 email obtained by Bearing Drift via the FOIA. “After you were elected, the Stafford Board of Supervisors invited you to join us for a meeting on issues important to Stafford County, including transportation. You chose not to attend. Earlier this year I asked you to help your constituents in on community to make their case to [the Department of Environmental Quality]. You have not responded. In early May I wrote you asking for your assistance to maintain funding for the 630 Interchange (that was proposed to be cut), requesting your attendance at the Fredericksburg District CTB hearing to speak for it. No response–no attendance–nothing….One wonders what could have been accomplished if our elected representative to the state government would have engaged.”
The Sheriff of Stafford County sees the Exit 140 project as critical for public safety, saying that the current configuration of the interchange and the congestion it creates has daily implications on the delivery of public safety services in the county.
“From a practical point of view, the interchange and the road network it serves fails on a daily basis,” writes Sheriff Charles Jett in a letter to VDOT on May 20 (also obtained under FOIA), asking for funding to be restored. “From a public safety operations perspective, the growing congestion means delays in deploying law enforcement personnel to patrol areas, increases emergency response times for both Sheriff Deputies and Fire and Rescue Apparatus, and complicates deployment of specialized law enforcement resources to the western portions of the County.”
This letter was not only sent to VDOT, but also to the entire General Assembly delegation that serves Stafford, including Del. Futrell…and Speaker Howell
According to Sterling, the project is the number one interstate priority of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and mandated by the Federal Highway Administration.
But where is Futrell and why is he not responding?
Sterling has a theory that he put forward to Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne, VDOT Commissioner Charlie Kilpatrick and copied the Speaker: politics.
“While Delegate Futrell may not be interested in advancing the interests of his constituents, and improve the infrastructure of the Commonwealth, the rest of us do not have that luxury,” he writes July 24. “No reason was given for this officially but as the process unfolded it became clear that the funding was removed for political reasons related more to Medicaid expansion rather than infrastructure improvements.”
Say what?!
That’s quite a stunning accusation by Sterling, but he has his reasons.
“While I am not naive and recognize that often infrastructure improvement become bargaining chip in political deal making, I have always tried, with success, to shield the projects in our region from such. In this case, I think using this project to try and influence lawmakers was misguided. Unfortunately, after publicly stating that I would fix this problem (and questioning the 29 bypass process after the governor met with FHWA shortly before they cancelled that project that they had approved so many times before) the governor replaced me early on the CTB, enabling what has transpired to take place.
“Given this, it is hard for me to blindly rely upon a new prioritization process that will be developed with the potential for significant political manipulation.”
Sterling also relates to Speaker Howell in a separate email July 26:
“Twice in discussions with very senior administration individuals about the 630 interchange, they introduced the subject of Medicaid expansion. In another case I was told that it was fully funded until the senate recently flipped which undermined the governor’s ability to leverage the budget for Medicaid expansion….[The administration is] intentionally pushing into a process that [they] will control.”
Where this goes from here is anyone’s guess. But Speaker Howell did say in an email that he would attempt to meet with Layne to try and resolve the issue. According to the Speaker’s office, that meeting will be held Aug. 18.
So, to wrap up – this project was important before it wasn’t. Futrell is doing nothing to advance the project – likely at the behest of the governor.
Sterling was kicked off the CTB for political reasons (because he’s a Republican). Members of the CTB have been removed from the CTB because of their refusal to go along with the governor’s political maneuvers (*see below). And, the governor, who knows Speaker Howell represents Stafford, is using the project as leverage to push for Medicaid reform.
All this said, can we really be surprised that strong-arm tactics are being used by this administration to get their way – even at the expense of taxpayers, motorists, and first responders? And should we be surprised that there are those complicit, like Del. Futrell, in the process?
The patriot in me wants to say it’s not true. The cynic in me says otherwise.
Background info:
Letter from Supervisor Sterling to Del. Futrell, May 6
Letter from Sheriff Jett to VDOT, May 20
VDOT SYIP
* Addendum quote from Sterling email to Howell, Jul. 26:
“The facts are that the people responsible for establishing the process have already demonstrated that the decisions are being made for political, rather than transportation reasons. The fact that the governor early replaced members of the CTB that would not go along with it, shows he will do what is necessary to push the priortisation process thru as he wants it, and will sack anyone else who express concern.”
