PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — During her November election effort, Portsmouth State Sen. Louise Lucas (D) put on boxing gloves and said she was “ready for the fight.”
Today, the political gloves are back on for a new fight, which includes sizable toll relief at the Downtown and Midtown Tunnels.
Virginia has already approved and given toll relief in the past, but Lucas is looking for more.
Posting on her X account:
“Anyone who thinks I am going to approve an arena in Northern Virginia using state tax dollars before we deliver on toll relief … must think I have dumba** written on my forehead.”
Lucas, known for her direct demeanor, can’t be any more direct than that.
“What I have said is, I am not going to commit any state dollars to large projects until we do something in Hampton Roads,” Lucas said, “and in particular, the elimination of those tolls. We need to do something to bring those tolls down.”
In Richmond, Lucas dodged reporters’ questions on whether she supports Northern Virginia’s efforts to build sports arenas for professional franchises, but she didn’t dodge 10 On Your Side in an exclusive interview.
“No toll relief for Portsmouth tunnels, no arena in Northern Virginia — period,” Lucas said. “I said when I got re-elected and I became chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee [that] it is time for Hampton Roads to get its fair share, and I want to start with those tolls, plain and simple.”
Former Portsmouth Del. Stephen Heretick said the political landscape has changed, and it appears Lucas is planning for the future.
“I think she makes a good point — if Northern Virginia plays this game of give me, give me, give me, then at some point, they will have to realize Hampton Roads does exist,” Heretick said, “and that Portsmouth is being uniquely burdened by these tolls. Quite frankly, Northern Virginia hasn’t had to care because they have not had to.”
As for tolls and other issues, Heretick said Portsmouth has a trifecta of opportunity.
Consider this:
The incoming Speaker of the House of Delegates is Portsmouth Del. Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) and is the new power center — “he will control a significant portion of the state budget,” Heretick said.
Lucas, too, returns as President pro-tempore of the Senate.
“She will assume chair of the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee, and we also have a third player in Secretary of Transportation Shep Miller, who is from Virginia Beach,” Heretick said. “I think he understands as well as we do and appreciates the burden these tolls put on our region economically and Portsmouth specifically.”
How much is Lucas seeking to reduce tolls at the Downtown and Midtown tunnels? 10 On Your Side asked.
“Senator Lucas … we owe about $2 billion. Do you think it is feasible to get a chunk as large as something like $500 million?
“It does not hurt for me to start asking for it and to start working towards that end,” she said, “and that is exactly what I plan to do — working towards that end.”
10 On Your Side pushed her for more details, and she responded.
“There are a lot of ways we can do it,” Lucas said. “We can do it through bonds. We can also ask for some help through the federal government to make sure we can buy down these tolls, and that is my goal. I finally have an opportunity to do something about it, and I’m not going to let go until I do. … What that translates to in regard to support from other areas of Virginia we don’t know.”
What is clear is that reducing tolls with state money, once off the table, is now not only back on the table for Lucas, it’s time to start eating.
Heretick summed the current toll situation this way:
“This is going to plague not only us, not only our children, but our grandchildren,” Heretick said. “It seems like now is the time to do something about this finally.”
Said Lucas: “It’s like starting all over again, and I am going to work as hard as I can to bring some relief to the people in Portsmouth and Norfolk and the surrounding areas in the downtown Portsmouth and Norfolk areas.”
The Downtown Tunnel was built as a toll facility in 1952, and the Midtown Tunnel came about in 1962. In 1986, tolls at both tunnels were removed after public debt used to build the tunnels were fully paid.
Tolls resumed in 2012 amid efforts to rehabilitate the existing tunnels, building a new Midtown Tunnel to double its capacity and extend the Martin Luther King Freeway.
The Downtown and Midtown tunnels are to be tolled for 58 years, from 2012 through 2070, according to Brittany McBride Nichols, district communications manager for the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Hampton Roads District. She said there is no set amount to be paid off.
“There is not a calculated remaining balance to be repaid for the project,” McBride Nichols said. “The Concessionaire has various forms of debt outstanding and invested equity and toll revenues to pay for the project’s construction. The term of the concession includes all ordinary and major maintenance for the assets and tolling operations over the 58-year term to be paid for by the Concessionaire.”
