SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 184 Offered January 30, 2006 Requesting the Secretary of Transportation and the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner to consult with their counterparts in the states of Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina to explore the feasibility and desirability of entering into an interstate compact for the construction and operation of a controlled access highway between Dover, Delaware, and Interstate Route 95 southwest of Charleston, South Carolina. Report. ---------- Patron-- Wagner ---------- Unanimous consent to introduce ---------- Referred to Committee on Rules ----------

WHEREAS, a controlled access highway providing an alternative to Interstate Route 95 for use by long-distance travelers between Delaware and South Carolina could allow such traffic to bypass the highly congested Washington, D.C., metropolitan area; and

WHEREAS, existence of such a highway would be beneficial to both commercial and noncommercial traffic, help alleviate congestion in the Interstate Route 95 Corridor, provide an important evacuation route in case of natural disaster or terrorist attack, contribute to air quality improvement, and benefit the economies of all the states through which it passes; and

WHEREAS, it may be both desirable and feasible to finance construction of such a facility through issuance of bonds supported by imposition and collection of tolls for use of the facility; and

WHEREAS, establishment of an interstate compact may be helpful in constructing, financing, and operating such a facility; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Secretary of Transportation and the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner be requested to consult with their counterparts in the states of Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina to explore the feasibility and desirability of entering into an interstate compact for the construction and operation of a controlled access highway between Dover, Delaware, and Interstate Route 95 southwest of Charleston, South Carolina. Such facility would follow U.S. Route 13 from Dover, Delaware, through Salisbury, Maryland, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, along the Southeast Expressway in Virginia Beach and the Dominion Boulevard Connector in Chesapeake to the U.S. Route 17 Corridor through North Carolina and South Carolina, and join Interstate Route 95 southwest of Charleston, South Carolina.

Technical assistance shall be provided to the Virginia Department of Transportation. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Secretary and the Commissioner, upon request.

The Secretary and the Commissioner shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of the results of their consultations no later than the first day of the 2008 Regular Session of the General Assembly. If the Secretary and the Commissioner find construction of the facility contemplated herein to be both desirable and feasible, they shall submit to the 2008 Session of the General Assembly such legislative recommendations as to them may seem necessary or desirable in connection with construction and operation of the facility. The executive summary and any legislative recommendations shall be submitted for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.