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Recently, this paper published an op-ed (Trent England, April 23, 2024 “Virginia Averts Election Disaster”) because Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a very reasonable ranked choice voting bill. ....
The Virginia Passenger Rail Station Authority started the study to look at five possible station locations in and around the region, according to an announcement this past week. ....
Larry Hincker The Virginia General Assembly begins a special session Aug. 2 to apportion $4.3 billion in federal stimulus dollars (does this economy need more stimulus?). In the meantime, the stateâs coffers are overflowing. It just finished the fiscal year with about $2.6 billion in excess tax collections. That will figure into the governorâs final budget proposal later this year. Iâve seen myriad suggestions for additional spending âto address critical needsâ⦠like the stateâs depleted unemployment trust fund, more for public education and health, expanding affordable access to internet service, assisting poor Virginians with housing and utility payments, or maybe reviving hard-hit industries, such as restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions (isnât that why we got those federal COVID bucks?). ....
One matter is where a New River Valley station will be located. Work led by the New River Valley Regional Commission recommended some years ago a spot near the Christiansburg Aquatic Center off of North Franklin Street, and the town bought land in that area primarily for that purpose. But a few people close to the passenger rail extension project now say itâs highly unlikely that will happen. The stateâs approximately $257 million investment into the Western Rail Initiativeâthe program that covers the planned return of passenger rail to the New River Valley and the upcoming addition of another train from Roanoke to Washington D.C.âincludes the acquisition of right of way and track from Norfolk Southern Railway for just under 29 miles of the Virginian Line from the Salem Crossovers to Merrimac. ....
Michael Pope reports One hundred years ago, trains were the way to get around Virginia. Then the rise of the automobile changed all that. Passenger rail lines were cancelled, and interstates became clogged with traffic. Larry Hincker at the New River Valley passenger rail initiative says the interstates is great, but they’re not the solution to everything. We re been advocating for improvements to I-81, but we also can see that passenger rail helps alleviate some of that I-81 traffic. An Amtrak passenger train rolls into Roanoke s new station in 2017. Amtrak s Northeast Regional service starts and ends each day in Roanoke. ....