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More than 3,500 sign anti-toll petition
Street Smart
By Jon Cawley
9:25 PM EST, February 11, 2012
Do you hate the idea of paying a toll to travel between Norfolk and Portsmouth in the Midtown or Downtown tunnels?
Perhaps what really gets you steamed is the likelihood that even more tolls will pop up around Hampton Roads as part of a growing trend toward mega-project public/private partnerships.
A Suffolk resident has started an online petition to express that very dismay. And as of Friday evening, more than 3,500 people have signed Todd Cairns' petition on http://www.change.org. The petition is "Tell Virginia State and Local Officials: Block Tolls in Hampton Roads."
In part, the petition reads: "In an attempt to make up for a road-funding model that becomes increasingly insufficient with each passing day, Hampton Roads is on the precipice of heavy tolls and public-private partnerships. While there is much concern from our citizens and representatives, the response is divided. This petition has been created to unify our concerns and hopefully to reverse course on public-private partnerships and tolls.
"The most worrisome aspect is what tolls will do to the local economy and citizens. In Hampton Roads, it will heavily affect small businesses, students at ODU, NSU, TCC, the military who depend on our roadways," the petition states.
A second online petition at the same website has garnered 89 supporters.
The petitions are an example of the growing public discord in Hampton Roads regarding Gov. Bob McDonnell's plan to finance state transportation needs — such as a new Midtown Tunnel tube and upgrades to the Downtown Tunnel and Martin Luther King Expressway — in large part through public/private partnerships and tolling.
The governor's plan to start a statewide tolling authority suffered a setback last week when it was stripped from General Assembly legislation before the Senate finance committee.
DMV grants
The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Highway Safety Office is accepting transportation safety grant applications from programs statewide that "strive to reduce traffic deaths and injuries."
The deadline for filing a submission is March 15.
The cost-reimbursement funding phase, for selected programs, will run Oct. 1, 2012, through Sept. 30, 2013, according to a DMV statement.
Instructions say applicants should contact their regional manager to get access to an online application that must be filled out at http://www.dmvnow.com. The Portsmouth regional manager is Dwight Jenkins. He can be reached at 804-699-0364 or