Economist, State Officials Say Benefits of Road Projects Outweigh Costs

The statewide economy could expand by as much as $4.1 billion if the state chose to spend roughly $30 billion on highway construction, said Stephen Fuller, an economist and the director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.

Fuller recently published a study, funded by the Virginia Secretary of Transportation’s office, which concluded that better highways would yield a stronger statewide economy.

In more specific terms, if 16 proposed road projects, dubbed “megaprojects” by the state, were funded and constructed, Fuller says they would employ 56,798 people and generate nearly $3 million extra for the state’s income tax base. Those projects include hot lanes on several major interstates in Northern Virginia, as well as road work in other congested areas of the state.

Currently, the General Assembly is only considering funding about $3 billion worth of the megaprojects. “Nobody has 30 billion bucks,” Fuller said.

Sean Connaughton, the state's secretary of transportation, is quoted in a press statement released by Gov. Bob McDonnell's office, saying the completion of the proposed projects will improve the daily lives of Virginia drivers.

“Moving these projects forward now becomes an even greater priority when we see the tremendous ripple effect they would have on job creation and economic expansion,” Connaughton said in response to Fuller’s study.

The $45,000, six-week study was not affected by the fact it was funded by the state government, Fuller said.

“They didn’t know what the answers would be,” he said. “They didn’t have any way to quantify it.”

A full copy of the study, "The Impact of Sixteen Proposed PPTA Mega Projects on the Commonwealth of Virginia Economy," can be accessed to the right of this article, or through the George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis.