RE: Highway construction. I doubt that is any different than transit, either.

Yes, we in the US favor new construction over taking care of what we have. Why? Well, dedicated funding in terms of the gas tax helps.

Turn the gas tax over to the general revenue fund!

by charlie on May 1, 2012 9:02 am • link • report

@charlie

Dedicated funding from the gas tax helps us have better maintenance, not worse. The fact that states get a dedicated pot of money that they can count on helps them plan for better maintenance.

If everything was budgeted out from general fund revenue each year we'd see even more shiny new projects done with earmark money, etc.

We favor new construction because politicians get to say "see what I did for you?!" How would putting transportation in the general fund get rid of that?

by MLD on May 1, 2012 9:15 am • link • report

Boo to Jim Graham - instead of increasing revenue through increasing sales he proposes to increase revenue by taxation that will reduce sales.

by ah on May 1, 2012 9:15 am • link • report

There's no such thing as MDOT. It's MdTA.

by Jeremy on May 1, 2012 9:18 am • link • report

On the face of it, the Miami plan seems like a good idea. It gives park space to walk to and allows for development on lots blending those interests while hopefully providing a mix of uses near the park. As long as those parks are part of the Miami-dade parks system rather than owned by a private interest that is supposed to allow access.

And I enjoy this quote from the SW story.
"This is an all-out effort to change the zoning regulations and quite frankly profit from the return," said Michael Krause, who lives in the Carrollsburg neighborhood.

You mean that people get into the construction business to make money?

by Canaan on May 1, 2012 9:20 am • link • report

@ah

Amen. Luckily his proposal has to go through the finance committee headed by Jack Evans. Fat chance of that happening.

by Adam L on May 1, 2012 9:24 am • link • report

@MLD; not really.

It's the difference -- as detailed in the article -- that intial funding is heavily kicked in by the feds, not local.

Then maintainance is deferred until you can call it an emergency and the feds kick in again.

by charlie on May 1, 2012 9:26 am • link • report

Virginia's funding is (and was) always predicated on construction being done in accordance with Virgina Law. By using Union Labor the cost for labor has increased by close to 20%. If we really want to see the Silver Line completed (which we all know it will be) let's quit blaming Virginia and instead get MWAA under the looking glass and tell them to quit wasting the taxpayers money.

by Pelham1861 on May 1, 2012 9:26 am • link • report

There is nothing in Virginia law that bans someone hiring a contractor from giving preference to union contractors. If I, on my own property, prefer to hire a union contractor, does Va have the legal authority to stop me?

by FreedomNOW on May 1, 2012 9:31 am • link • report

@Pelham1861: Do you have anything to back up your claim that simply giving a preference to union labor has increased the cost by 20%?

I would have thought the Virginia legislature would want to keep quiet about how they're only contributing 5% of the cost, but I guess they feel that any nonzero amount should give them veto power.

by Gray on May 1, 2012 9:33 am • link • report

"Virginia's funding is (and was) always predicated on construction being done in accordance with Virgina Law. By using Union Labor the cost for labor has increased by close to 20%. If we really want to see the Silver Line completed (which we all know it will be) let's quit blaming Virginia and instead get MWAA under the looking glass and tell them to quit wasting the taxpayers money."

Wanna tell us where this number came out of? And are you a cost estimator? Because I do lots of cost estimating, and one of the biggest flaws in this logic is that it doesnt understand the cost of REDO. By using certified labor it has been shown that the time in completion is reduce because with the skilled workforce (not just a bunch of people that last week were doing drywall and now are doing spot welding) that a company can run a more efficient labor system which ends up giving them an advantage on cost.

Btw, cost can't increase by 20% if seeing as only a 10% benefit is being provided by the contract(otherwise you are admitting that the unions actually cost less than their competitors, or they wouldnt get the job in the first place)

As always, those who fight hard for ideology on the right just have their facts dead WRONG because they have no idea how to run a business, build anything, or be an entrepreneur. All they know, like their front man Romney, is how to destroy what others built, acting like the scrap yard of the economy because they have no creative or appreciable talents themselves.

by Tysons Engineer on May 1, 2012 9:39 am • link • report

Jeremy: The Maryland Department of Transportation goes by MDOT: http://www.mdot.maryland.gov/

MdTA runs the toll facilities: http://mdta.maryland.gov/

MdTA is an independent agency but Swaim-Staley is head of both.

by David Alpert on May 1, 2012 9:48 am • link • report

So, instead of raising revenue by offering people a new benefit like sunday liquor sales, we will instead raise that revenue by increasing the price. Sigh.

by Alex B. on May 1, 2012 10:36 am • link • report

The 60s-era outrage about the prospect of sidewalk cafe was hilarious. The petty objections, the "worst case scenario" fearmongering over what is considered "normal activity" in most other cities. It's a case study in how DC was as provincial then as it is now:

“I think Washington is just perfect the way it is,” socialite Gwen Cafritz told a reporter in 1959. “I don’t think the tempo in Washington is suited to sidewalk cafes. Nobody would have time to sit in them.”

City officials raised myriad objections, as described in a Washington Post story at the time: Sidewalk cafes expose food to “windblown foreign matter,” creating a health hazard and attracting birds and rodents, the city’s public health director said; too many cafes would cause a “cessation” of pedestrian traffic, forcing walkers into the streets, where they would get run over, another official cautioned; and tables and chairs would interfere with the deployment of fire hoses, the fire chief warned.

by JustMe on May 1, 2012 10:47 am • link • report

If Loudon County doesn't want to run Metro out to Wiehle Avenue, whatever. I could honestly care less. But not running the line to Dulles would be an abject failure of the greatest proportion that would set transportation planning in NoVa back 20 years, at least. The Silver Line wasn't planned to terminate at Reston.

If the politicized decision of a few Loudon County supervisors ends up killing that project, each and every one of them should be voted out of office.

by Ben on May 1, 2012 11:32 am • link • report

So, instead of raising revenue by offering people a new benefit like sunday liquor sales, we will instead raise that revenue by increasing the price.

Yeah, imagine that! *Sigh*x's 2

by HogWash on May 1, 2012 11:34 am • link • report

There already is a 7-11 at 957 H St NE (in the H Street Connection strip mall). Hopefully, the new location on Bladensburg is not overkill.

by watcher on May 1, 2012 11:35 am • link • report

"If Loudon County doesn't want to run Metro out to Wiehle Avenue, whatever. I could honestly care less."

I wouldnt care either, since the station is in Fairfax not Loudoun, and its largely already built, and will open next year. I think you have Wiehle avenue confused with somewhere else.

@watcher - perhaps they envision that shopping center being redeveloped in a few years?

by AWalkerInTheCity on May 1, 2012 11:41 am • link • report

@Gray/Tysons Engineer: while I don't do civil construction, I have done commercial construction in the DC area for close to a decade and in my experience, the union upchage is about 20-25%. And if you hire qualified subcontractors you can get a better product without having to pay the union premium. Non union does not mean unqualified, but there is a risk if you use crummy contractors. Many times it makes sense to use union contractors (MEP trades, generally, though there are some non-union guys out there who do great work).

I am not anti-union (I am from Detroit and both my parents were in unions and I enjoyed the benefits) but if I am advising a client on how to best spend their money, I would advise them to choose best value and not require unions, but certainly use them were appropriate.

Also, what the heck is wrong with Sunday sales? Urgh.

by dano on May 1, 2012 12:04 pm • link • report

Perhaps an all-of-the-above approach would work for liquor. Sell it on Sunday, keep the bars open until 4am, and add a 5 cent per-drink surcharge. Roll the money into the general fund and call it a day. Any other ideas for all-of-the-above?

by OctaviusIII on May 1, 2012 12:11 pm • link • report

"I think you have Wiehle avenue confused with somewhere else."

D'oh. Yes. I guess it is Rt. 772 that is the planned terminus of the final extension. I don't care whether metro goes *there* or not.

by Ben on May 1, 2012 12:12 pm • link • report

@dano:

I am not anti-union (I am from Detroit and both my parents were in unions and I enjoyed the benefits) but if I am advising a client on how to best spend their money, I would advise them to choose best value and not require unions, but certainly use them were appropriate.

So I guess you would like that even the proposed contracting framework by MWAA doesn't require union labor, right?

by Gray on May 1, 2012 12:51 pm • link • report

But in the contract they have only allowed a 10% benefit. So non-union companies can still compete. I dont understand the issue here.

THE MOST IT CAN COST IS 10% more. Otherwise all things being equal, a non-union company who isn't "trying to rip off the state of virginia" could under cut the union by being less than 10%.

It doesnt matter if union labor costs 25% more in DC, if you are allowing NONunion contractors as well, with only a 10% benefit to union bids.

by tysonsengineer on May 1, 2012 1:07 pm • link • report

Also, what the heck is wrong with Sunday sales? Urgh.

I spent a week in southwest Georgia on a project once, and made the mistake of walking into a gas station and trying to buy a six-pack of beer on a Sunday. The woman behind the counter gave me look as though I had personally nailed Jesus to the cross.

When an organized religion hits a certain population threshold, it's inevitable that they will seek to impose their dogma on the population at large.

by oboe on May 1, 2012 1:24 pm • link • report

Highway projects seemed to generate economic benefits when first built, but then it comes time to replace them, and there's no added tax revenue from that.

See also: "suburban ponzi scheme"

by oboe on May 1, 2012 1:27 pm • link • report

@oboe,

There's an excellent book by local author Garrett Peck called "The Prohibition Hangover." Peck explains how Prohibition is still with us in many ways, including no Sunday sales, the absurd legal drinking age, and the continuing angst over things like sidewalk cafes and liquor licenses. (The Carrie Nation types really disliked conspicuous "ethnic" drinking displays, like the German biergarten.) The repeal of federal prohibition left control of alcohol largely in the hands of the states, which is why Va. and Montgomery County still have government-owned liquor stores. Prohibition drove Americans to do our drinking at home, in private, under cover. Peck connects the dots and shows how the remnants of the "prohibition hangover" of drinking "in secret" still drive much of the teenage and young adult binge-drinking culture.

by Paulus on May 1, 2012 1:49 pm • link • report

@OctaviusIII - In theory you could package all three, but Graham seems cynically to have opted for a significant revenue raiser (at least according to estimates) based on two proposals that would increase revenue through increased activity.

Keep in mind the alcohol tax was effectively raised recently when the sales tax rate was raised to 10% on alcohol.

by ah on May 1, 2012 2:15 pm • link • report