News-Virginia Politics- Tim Kaine in Bristol-No answers- No promises

  Gov.-elect Kaine hears transportation concerns

"The Coalfields Expressway has been on the drawing board for 10 years," said Paul Buchanan, chairman of the Dickenson County Board of Supervisors.

"It’s been studied, surveyed and engineered but still no construction due to the lack of funds," he said. "This would serve all of Southwest Virginia, and we hope to see something happen."

Kaine made no promises or predictions but said he plans to include the Coalfields Expressway in his transportation plan.

"It gets to be demoralizing when projects are on the board for a long time and they don’t happen," the governor-elect said. "I do not want to see this thing languish. The challenge has been financing, but there are some new financing options that give me some hope." Read all

New options??Defined as reform=TAX INCREASE. But no answers. Kaine is on a tour of no answers....no promises. Every idea stated by the public, has been hashed over for a long time in the media. The rail idea is not new, nor is the Coalfield Expressway. In fact every idea stated in the article has recieved local press for years. Kaine has been in office for 4 years and to travel around asking questions is wasteful. I hope this tour is on his dime and not ours. In a city of over 17,000 people, 200 hundred showed up.

I predict in 4 years there will be a tax increase, but still no Rails, no Expressway, and no help for SWVA. We can all go to the new 3 million dollar local arts center. The article also had this tid bit

•  Kaine called the dialogue a success and plans to hold about 10 more meetings in other communities before taking office in January.

Geeesh..10 more???

• He declined to voice support for any specific plan for the interstate but said he was committed to finding solutions and funding for the state’s most pressing transportation needs.

Typical =Tax dollars heading to NOVA

• "I am a big believer in using rail to move freight where it makes sense," he said, "but on the rail side, the railroads have to see the potential profit." One rail car can carry the equivalent of 12 tractor-trailers, he said.

I question that load statement. I may be wrong but a rail car cannot hold 12 tracter trailer loads and that includes the heavy stuff like rock and coal, or a load of toilet paper, which is needed on this tour. Anyway none of this is new. The railroad's will not lay the rails needed because the money is not there. Kaine knows this, or at least he should. This tour is a joke, and by the turn out so far the people know it.