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R -18 -01 A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN ITS 2018 SESSION TO DIRECT THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE AUDIT AND REVIEW COMMISSION (JLARC) TO UNDERTAKE A TOLL REFORM STUDY OF THE TUNNELS OPERATED BY ELIZABETH RIVER CROSSINGS. WHEREAS, the Elizabeth River separates the Cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk; and WHEREAS, the Cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk are directly connected via the Downtown Tunnels and the Midtown Tunnels that cross beneath the Elizabeth River; and WHEREAS, in 2009, the General Assembly of Virginia recognized that the Downtown Tunnels and the Midtown Tunnels are two of the most heavily traveled corridors in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and WHEREAS, these two tunnel corridors are vital to the movement of people, goods, and services between the two cities and the entire Hampton Roads region, and WHEREAS, the Virginia Port Authority, via the Port of Virginia, operates two marine facilities in Portsmouth and one marine facility in Norfolk; and WHEREAS, the activities of the Port of Virginia constitute ten percent of the Commonwealth's total economy, and Port related traffic through these two tunnel corridors is vital to the operation of the Port; and WHEREAS, in 2011, using the provisions of the Public— Private Transportation Act, the Commonwealth of Virginia, via its Virginia Department of Transportation, entered into a 58 -year contract with Elizabeth River Crossings OPCO, LLC (ERC), to make certain improvements to increase the capacity of the Midtown and Downtown Tunnels and their attendant bridges and roadways; and WHEREAS, the 2011 agreement grants ERC the authority to construct, maintain, and operate the tunnel facilities for the 58 -year period deriving its revenue from the imposition of tunnel tolls without any outside regulatory review even though the Commonwealth retains ownership of all of the facilities that ERC operates within this agreement; and WHEREAS, the tunnel tolls impose a severe economic hardship on the citizens of the Cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk and the economies of both the Commonwealth and the Hampton Roads region; and WHEREAS, for the good of the Commonwealth and its citizens, it is necessary for the Commonwealth to study toll reform for these two tunnels, to include but be not limited to the identification of legal strategies to renegotiate the terms of the agreement entered into by and between the Commonwealth and ERC, and to identify fiscal strategies for the buydown or buyout of the ERC contract by the Commonwealth of Virginia, in order to limit and avoid the several economic hardships this agreement has imposed upon the citizens of the Cities of