VDOT Sees Sprawl as Good Politics

A month ago, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) reversed its neighborhood connectivity standards. In doing so, it threw out progressive, anti-sprawl regulations made in 2009.

In Virginia, when a developer builds a development, they construct the roads and then VDOT acquires them from the developer and covers their maintenance costs. In 2009, VDOT edited their regulations as to what they require from developers to include connectivity. With this, the number of roads in a development would be divided by the number of intersections, yielding the “connectivity index” of the development. These regulations stipulated that cul-de-sacs and other road termini count as intersections, but roads that terminate at the property line of the development without connecting to adjacent roads in another development do not, thus discouraging isolated developments connected only by a main road.

However, the regulations made permissions for “incompatible uses” or developments separated by natural boundaries (such as railroad tracks or streams) to be exempt from these connectivity standards, but went on to say that residential and commercial uses are always compatible and should be connected when possible.

Ironically, these original regulations were made with the understanding that they would save the state money in the long term, as less funding would be required to plow roads, install utilities, and provide police protection, fire protection, and educational facilities. In addition to this, it would also make main roads safer by diverting traffic off of them, save time by offering direct routes to destinations, and promote walking and bicycling, as secondary routes with lower speeds and less traffic were available.

However, in what seems to be nothing more than a political statement, VDOT and the Republican governor Bob McDonnell decided to throw these regulations out the window. Allowing for single use, cul-de-sac centered sprawl to grow without bound, and causing increased traffic congestion, increased rates of automobile accidents, increased pollution, and unnecessary spending on utilities and services.

 

Why, then, did VDOT and Governor McDonnell allow this to happen?

The answer is simple, ideology and politics got in the way of facts and numbers. Govenor McDonnell and VDOT decided to conveniently ignore the cost savings these standards could bring about. Instead, they derided the standards as “Socialist” and promised to stamp them out, as the Tea Party usually does with regulations that promote public transit, mixed use development, and alternatives to driving.

In reversing these development guidelines, the State of Virginia has shown that it is willing to ignore facts, sacrifice economic development, public safety, the environment, and the well being of its citizens in order to score political points. This is something that should not be allowed to happen.