McQuigg Annouces Oppositon to HOT Lanes

Believe it or not...Michelle McQuigg has finally announced her position on HOT Lanes. This was emailed to me by Michelle McQuigg's office.

McQuigg Opposes I-95 HOT Lane Proposals
After careful evaluation, Delegate says both plans hurt commuters & taxpayers

OCCOQUAN, VA – Virginia State Delegate Michèle McQuigg announced that she opposes both proposals (the Fluor-Transurban and 95 Express) that would convert existing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on I-95 into High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes.

The announcement came after the Advisory Panel, which has been reviewing the plan since late April, met for the fourth time last night. The final meeting is scheduled to be on November 1.

McQuigg stated, “Neither proposal is financially viable and either the taxpayers will be required to pay the difference and/or the current users will be forced off of the HOV lanes.” Furthermore, she said that the traffic and revenue projections and the true cost to the taxpayer don’t add up.

McQuigg added, “I am concerned about the assumptions, the cost to maintain the system, the fiscal impact to transit and who will pay among other things.”

McQuigg also said that she is concerned that neither proposal has a realistic enforcement plan and the traffic flow onto the 14th Street Bridge, congestion issues and the actual volume of vehicles have not been adequately addressed.

McQuigg had previously expressed concerns about both plans; however, she wanted to allow the process to work before making a decision.

“I believe I owed it to my constituents to allow the process to work, for the advisory committee to evaluate each proposal, and to maintain a diplomatic position since the final decision is an executive one,” she said. “However, at this point I do not think the proposals are well thought out, and I am concerned about the impact on our HOV/slug system.”

McQuigg has consistently said, “I have a track record of support for our HOV and slug system and will not do anything to impede them.” This support has included securing hundreds of additional commuter parking spaces at Horner Road, Tackett’s Mill and Route 123/Old Bridge.

“I have been working with ‘slugs’ and ‘body snatchers’ since 1992 ensuring that government does not get in their way enabling a truly effective system,” she said.

Good news! Jeff is against HOT!

From: "Delegate Jeff Frederick" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: "'Hov 3 Slug'"
Subject: RE: HOT Lane proposals - where to you stand on them.
Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 16:20:00 -0400


In a nutshell, yes, he does concur with McQuigg. He came out against the proposals months ago, though.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Hov 3 Slug [mailto:hov3slug@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 11:24 AM
To: Delegate Jeff Frederick
Cc: jeff@votejeff.com
Subject: RE: HOT Lane proposals - where to you stand on them.


This is what I am looking for:

http://www.slug-lines.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2874

I voted for Jeff last time. I plan to vote for him this time. Politics is an ugly business, hence, I express my views but don't want my name out there.

Please let me know if Jeff concurs with the attached link or where I can find his views on this issue. If his views are public please point me in the right direction. Thank you.

Delegate Jeff Frederick wrote:
Sir: Delegate Frederick's position on the HOT proposals is public and has been reported by the media. That said, we have found that anonymous requests are typically the opposition sniffing around and if you aren't the opposition, you shouldn't need to hide your identity.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Hov 3 Slug [mailto:hov3slug@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 11:55 AM
To: Delegate Jeff Frederick
Subject: RE: HOT Lane proposals - where to you stand on them.

I do not want a personal response to me, only a web page address to see where he stands on the HOT lane issue. If it is not available today, fine. I do expect him to have a page out there the weekend before 11/08 addressing his position on HOT lanes. If not, I will vote for Hilda. I expect Hilda to play politics, not Jeff.

Please email me the web page site on Jeff's convictions on this issue and others when available. Thank you.

Delegate Jeff Frederick wrote:
Delegate Frederick will be happy to respond if you could kindly provide your name and address, we'll pass this on to him and make sure he responds directly to you.

Thank you.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Hov 3 Slug [mailto:hov3slug@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 7:47 PM
To: jeff@votejeff.com
Subject: HOT Lane proposals - where to you stand on them.


Jeff,
As we approach 11/08 I am searching the web for where you and Hilda stand on the issues. Among them are the HOT lane proposals. Please email me the web site page that discusses where you stand on this issue, as well as others.
Thanks,
HOV3SLUG

This is the exact opposite position that McQuigg took when she told me there was ONLY one solution to the traffic on I-95: HOT Lanes. I think this is just a politcal expediency, I doubt she has given any thought to it or has any clue on how to resolve traffic in Northern VA. She has consistently voted for development and has just as constitently voted against transportation improvements and other needed infrastructure. She voted for 90% of all housing development while a supervisor and currently receives most of her campaign contributions from developers. She simply can not be trusted, further she has been ranked as one of the least effective members of the House of Delegates, but not quite as bad as Jeff frederick, who was ranked the least effective legislator in the entire House of Delegates...his own party thinks he is incompetent.

Sponge: She is only coming because Porta made major inroads on her campaign. There are quite a few crossers this year -- for the right reason. Barg has not record to support sending her to Richmond. Some will say the same for McQuigg.

Oh, Haru, wher do you get the "least effective?" From the Demo Caucus? I can play it this way, in his first term, Jeff brought more dollars directly to his district than any previous Delegate.

So that is inefffective?

How about sponsoring the Bill increasing birth defect test from 9 to 30, bring VA in line with CDC protocols and saving $M through early intervention?

What about $5.8M for the 234 commuter lot expansion? Will you blame Jeff that the county is sitting on the work?

quote:

---

Originally posted by MDC
[br]I can say that Michelle McQuigg did ask for comments from commuters on her website regarding HOT. Perhaps she considered the comments people bothered to send her?

---

I was one who responded to her request for comments. She called (and has called a number of times thru the many years that I have known her) me at home and we talked for half an hour on the subject. She was still non-committal on the subject of being for or against HOT. I mentioned that if she is for HOT then this may be her Waterloo. Looks like she made a decision shortly after our conversation.

From my personal experience with Michele, she has taken her time to carefully research both sides of a situation and then asks the people who would be directly effected by a decision how they feel about it. Together with this info and her research, she makes a choice. I only hope that she has the courage of her convictions.