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R-99-23 A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO IDENTIFY SOURCES OF FUNDING OTHER THAN TOLLS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE PINNERS POINT INTERCHANGE, A PARALLEL TUBE AT THE MIDTOWN TUNNEL, THE MARTIN LUTHER KING FREEWAY EXTENSION TO 1-264, IMPROVEMENTS TO THE BRAMBLETON AVENUE INTERCHANGE, AND AN INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM TO MANAGE TRAFFIC FLOW. WHEREAS, in 1996, in accordance with the provisions of the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995, the Virginia Department of Transportation received an unsolicited proposal from Hampton Roads Public-Private Development LLC to construct the Pinners Point Interchange, a parallel tube at the Midtown Tunnel, the Martin Luther King Freeway Extension to 1-264, improvements to the Brambleton Avenue Interchange in Norfolk, and an intelligent transportation system to manage traffic flow; and WHEREAS, the City Councils of Norfolk, Virginia, and Portsmouth, Virginia, have been requested by the Virginia Department of Transportation to adopt a resolution on this issue stating their position; and WHEREAS, these facilities are critically needed for the continued growth and economic development of the Hampton Roads region and the entire Commonwealth of Virginia, and are vital to the continued prosperity of the Virginia Port Authority, and would provide vastly improved transportation connections among the varied federal military installations in the region; and WHEREAS, the improvements are currently estimated to cost more than $600 million; and WHEREAS, none of the projects is currently included in the state's 2018 long range funding plan; and WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia, strongly supports the need for the projects, but has serious concerns about the imposition of tolls on local residents as a financing mechanism, especially on a project that is so important to the region and the entire Commonwealth; and WHEREAS, the reasons the Council of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia, can not endorse the use of tolls on these facilities at this time include: the inconvenience to users; the financial hardship on users; the negative effect toils will have on tourism and economic development; the return to a regressive road financing measure; and the fact that this project would become the only toll facility located entirely within Hampton Roads, and would thereby place the City of Portsmouth at a competitive disadvantage within the region; and