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PW Board cuts roads budget
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to cut the county’s transportation budget in order to avoid increasing automobile decal fees.Two weeks ago, supervisors rejected a plan to increase decal fees by $14 for cars. That fee hike would have raised $4 million for the transportation budget, which has been hurting because of a slowdown in home sales.
On Tuesday, the supervisors revisited the transportation budget, cutting out $4 million in spending to avoid a fee increase.
The cuts will fall primarily in three areas: street lights, intersection safety improvements and neighborhood roads.
The board had set aside $700,000 for street lights along roads that “just seemed too dark,” said Tom Blaser, the county’s transportation chief.
Those roads included Route 234 and the Prince William Parkway, but a complete list of plans had not yet been developed before the lighting project was scrapped, he said.
The county will also do without $8 million in intersection safety money. By cutting out $1.9 million in debt service over the next five years, the county will save needed money but will lose all $8 million in the safety money.
The intersection safety improvement fund was created in the aftermath of a fatal crash at Route 55 and Catharpin Road in Gainesville. An infant was killed at that intersection in 2005, prompting supervisors to create a fund specifically to be used for quick improvements at intersections deemed unsafe.
Now that fund is no more.
Officials were quick to point out, however, that safety improvements will still be made. The Virginia Department of Transportation has a Hazard Elimination and Safety program that will fund future intersection fixes in the county, said Rick Canizales, the county’s transportation planning manager.
For the last few years, each supervisor has had a fund used for smaller road improvements in his or her district.
The Transportation and Roadway Improvement Program (TRIP) funds total $2.8 million per year, split between the supervisors and used for everything from sidewalks to traffic lights.
For instance, Gainesville Supervisor John Stirrup once used his TRIP money to make major repairs on the Bull Run Mountain roads.
In order to balance the transportation budget, TRIP funds will be cut in half for the next two years; instead of $2.8 million, the fund will total only $1.4 million per year, so supervisors will only get about $200,000 per district instead of the $400,000 they’ve come to expect.
“Which means we won’t build many sidewalks,” concluded Neabsco Supervisor John Jenkins (D).
Beginning in fiscal year 2011, however, the TRIP funds will be restored, if all goes as planned.
The rest of the budget cuts will come from changes to the financing of U.S. 1 improvements that will not change the timetable for construction. An additional $1 million from revenue-sharing agreements will be used to round out the cuts.
The grand total is $4 million cut from the fiscal year 2009 budget, followed by an additional $2.5 million cuts in 2010 and additional cuts each year through 2013.
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