Ken Plum: it will take more than magic

Ken Plum

A hobby I pursue infrequently is performing magic tricks. Recently I did a magic show for preschoolers to help the United Christian Parish Preschool that my wife Jane directs raise money to improve the preschool library. As I explained to my eager audience, magic can make the seemingly impossible take place. When the children were…

David Reynolds: Think Virginia

David Reynolds

This column is not for wine lovers. Rather, it is directed to my conservative friends who have no love for government, who think that all governments are nothing more than intrusions into our private lives, who never met a tax they liked and who believe that all public budgets should be filed under fiction. Sorry,…

Roads action plan draws critics

Chris Graham

The rhetoric from Gov. Bob McDonnell on transportation funding ramped up on Tuesday with McDonnell approving an action plan put together by the Virginia Department of Transportation after an independent audit criticized as having political overtones. “VDOT met the deadline to develop a comprehensive action plan to improve its business practices and ensure that its…

70 is the new 65 in Va.

Chris Graham

The Virginia Department of Transportation will post 70-mph speed limits on 680 miles of interstates no later than Dec. 31, 2010, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Wednesday. While campaigning for governor, McDonnell proposed the speed limit increase to 70 mph in rural and less populated areas as a way to improve transportation in the Commonwealth. This…

Maury River Bridge opens

Chris Graham

The newly constructed Maury River Bridge on Route 130 in the Town of Glasgow in Rockbridge County opened to traffic on Wednesday. Work will continue at the construction site, which will include completion of guardrail installation and the removal of the old bridge. Traffic will be able to use the new bridge, but motorists should…

Feds approve final Virginia stimulus projects

Chris Graham

Virginia completed its final obligation for the commonwealth’s $694.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) highway funding today. This means that the Federal Highway Administration has approved all 128 Virginia transportation pavement, bridge, and congestion management projects. The milestone comes six days before the federal deadline for this work to be completed. In…

Waynesboro traffic: Problem still viewed as down the road

Chris Graham

Growth in the commercial sector in the West End has buttressed the Waynesboro economy from the worst effects of the ongoing economic slowdown, but that growth has come with a price in the form of traffic congestion on the Lew DeWitt Boulevard-Rosser Avenue corridor. it stands to reason that the explosion in retail that pulls…

Ken Plum: Transportation progress?

Ken Plum

Column by Ken Plum www.kenplum.com   Gov. Bob McDonnell ran for office as the only candidate with a “transportation plan,” a multi-page, single-spaced document that was good for waving to political crowds but which critics who read its content said had little substance. A report from the governor’s office last month on the progress of…

Good news, bad news about West End traffic

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected]   Lost in the discussion over the merits of the Waynesboro Place rezoning and its potential impact on traffic in the already-congested Lew Dewitt Boulevard-Rosser Avenue-Windigrove Drive area – the part about traffic in that part of town already being congested. “It doesn’t function to Level C that VDOT would…