The Virginian-Pilot recently published an opinion piece about the distribution of highway funds throughout the Commonwealth. Covering details of how interstate funds for Hampton Roads dropped from $32 million last year to $6 million this year, and to zero dollars by mid-2010, the op-ed piece also points out that localities in Northern Virginia will receive 81 percent of the state's interstate budget this year, and 90 percent next year.

"What is Hampton Roads' fair share of Virginia's interstate highway dollars? How about 21 percent, our share of the state population? Or 15 percent, the portion of interstate miles running through the region?

Did anyone guess 2 percent? Fairness aside, that's the region's actual share of interstate funds this year. Here's another number: 0 percent. That's what Hampton Roads will get next year.

The reality that Virginia's second-most congested region is so shortchanged should have folks across the state scratching their heads. Those of us who fight through the region's monstrous traffic jams to work, worship and pick up the kids have a right to be apoplectic.

An analysis by the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization lays out the grim facts. The study covered state funding from 2004 to this year, as well as future plans by the Virginia Department of Transportation for divvying up road dollars through 2015. Over the 12-year period, Hampton Roads' share is 17 percent, while Northern Virginia gets 58 percent, but those aggregate numbers mask what's happening right now."

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