To the Editor:

The upcoming 2013 General Assembly Session once again has the opportunity to effectively address and begin the process of alleviating the transportation problems that plague Northern Virginia and other urban areas of the commonwealth. Having lived in Fairfax County since 1980, however, I have seen the yearly sessions of the General Assembly go by with a lot of talk but with few accomplishments. The highway infrastructure continues to crumble and the traffic is becoming increasingly congested. Funding for transportation remains inadequate and it always has a low priority. I wonder if the 2013 Session can be any different than previous sessions but I really doubt it. Desirable as a new four-lane highway from Petersburg to Suffolk may be (which is questionable), could the $1.4 billion cost be better used to replace and expand the infrastructure in Northern Virginia or in the Hampton Roads area? Does a streetcar running in the traffic lanes really solve congestion on Columbia Pike or will it just create greater chaos? We need sensible, practical solutions and not just more pie-in-the-sky projects that do nothing to solve the commonwealth’s transportation problems.

Anne Damon

Fairfax