The Commonwealth Transportation Board, formerly the State Highway and Transportation Board, regulates and funds transportation in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. It oversees the Virginia Department of Transportation

Virginia Department of Transportation

The Virginia Department of Transportation is the agency of state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. Headquartered in Downtown Richmond, VDOT is responsible for building, maintaining, and operating the roads, bridges and tunnels in the...

.

Membership

The Board consists of seventeen members:

• The Secretary of Transportation
• The Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner
• The Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation
• Fourteen citizen members

The citizen members are appointed by the Governor

Governor of Virginia

The governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Republican Bob McDonnell, who was inaugurated on January 16, 2010, as the 71st governor of Virginia....

 to four-year terms, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly

Virginia General Assembly

The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...

, and removable from office by the Governor at his pleasure. The Secretary of Transportation serves as chairman of the Board.

Authority

The Board has power to:

• Choose locations of routes
• Award contracts for construction, maintenance, and improvement of roads
• Make traffic regulations
• Name highways
• Enter into contracts with local entities created for transportation purposes
• Contract with other states
• Administer, distribute, and allocate funds in the Transportation Trust Fund
• Regulate outdoor theaters

All of these powers must be exercised within the framework of state law.

Highway rest stops

As of 2008, Viriginia operated 42 rest stops and visitor centers along its interstate highways. In response to budget pressures, the Board sought public input and determined to reduce costs by closing 19 rest stops and expanding the truck parking lots at the remaining stops to accommodate the trucks that would other park and sleep at the stops designated for closing. The Board also removed the two hour limit on truck parking. The closures began on July 21, 2009 The Board's funding options were limited, because Federal law 23 U.S.C. §111 prohibits commercialization of interstate highway rest stops. The closing resulted in a $9 million annual saving. At the Board's first meeting in January 2010, it reversed the decision to close the rest stops and reassigned $3 million in highway maintenance funds to keep the 19 rest stops open until the end of the fiscal year. No long-term funding source was identified.

External links

• Commonwealth Transportation Board's website
• § 33.1-1. State Highway and Transportation Board continued as Commonwealth Transportation Board; number and terms of members; removal from office; vacancies.
• § 33.1-12. General powers and duties of Board, etc.; definitions.