SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2010 SESSION

10104048D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1323
Offered January 22, 2010
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 33.1-23.03:11, relating to tolls at the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.
----------
Patron-- May
----------
Referred to Committee on Transportation
----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 33.1-23.03:11 as follows:

§ 33.1-23.03:11. Tolls at the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

A. The Commonwealth Transportation Board shall charge and collect tolls from all classes of vehicles for the use of the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel in both directions.

B. In order to mitigate traffic congestion in the vicinity of the toll facility, no toll facility shall be operated without high-speed automated toll collection technology designed to allow motorists to travel through the toll facility without slowing to make payments. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit a toll facility from retaining means of nonautomated toll collection in some lanes of the facility. The Board shall also consider traffic congestion and mitigation thereof and the impact on local traffic movement as factors in determining the location of the toll facilities authorized pursuant to this section.

C. The amount of the toll shall be no less than $2 for two-axle vehicles and be subject to the provisions of § 33.1-223.2:12. Vehicles that are automatically tolled and pass through the tunnel more than twice within a 24-hour period will only be charged for two trips during that 24-hour period.

D. The revenues collected from the toll facilities established pursuant to this section shall be as follows:

1. The revenues collected from the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel toll facility shall be deposited into a segregated subaccount in the Transportation Trust Fund and shall be allocated by the Commonwealth Transportation Board for the operation, maintenance, and future improvements or replacement of the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and the approaches to it and to promote safety, efficient traffic flow, and emergency management at the bridge-tunnel and the approaches to it. For purposes of this subdivision, the "approaches" to the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel shall include Interstate Route 664 from the Interstate Route 64 interchange at the Hampton Coliseum to the Interstate Route 64/Interstate Route 264 interchange at Bowers Hill in Chesapeake.

2. The revenues collected from the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel toll facility shall be deposited into a segregated subaccount in the Transportation Trust Fund and shall be allocated by the Commonwealth Transportation Board for the operation, maintenance, and future improvements or replacement of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and the approaches to it and to promote safety, efficient traffic flow, and emergency management at the bridge-tunnel and the approaches to it. For purposes of this subdivision, the "approaches" to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel shall include Interstate Route 64 from the Interstate Route 664 interchange at the Hampton Coliseum to the Interstate Route 264 interchange in Norfolk.

2.  That the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall implement the steps necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.

3.  That the tolls required under this act shall not be charged until the toll facilities become operational.

4. That the revenues generated by the provisions of this act shall not be used to calculate or reduce the share of local, federal, and state revenues otherwise available to participating jurisdictions. Further, such revenues and moneys shall not be included in any computation of, or formula for, a locality's ability to pay for public education, upon which appropriations of state revenues to local governments for public education are determined.