RICHMOND, Va (WTVR) -- Governor Bob McDonnell said he has a new transportation plan to help fix Virginia's deteriorating and overcrowded roads. But it could include a hike in gas taxes or more tolls.
McDonnell said for years the state has been forced to dip into construction money for road maintenance.
"We have squeezed every dollar we can. We have reformed VDOT (Virginia's Department of Transportation), we've audited VDOT, we've used funds--everything that I'm able to do right now but it's not enough to solve the problem." Governor McDonnell said. "It's a safety problem, it's a quality of life problem for the people. So I'm going to have a proposal for this legislative session--as I announced yesterday--that will be at least $500 million. That's what we need in order to stop the bleeding of the maintenance fund."
McDonnell said although he is not suggesting a gas tax increase, he is pushing for some kind of reform in the upcoming legislative session in order to tackle the transportation funding issue for good.
