I hate taxes as much as the next citizen, but we have a representative form of government for a reason. Citizens will never vote to tax themselves via referenda and unelected bodies should not be empowered to tax the populace either. It is time that our General Assembly show some backbone.

I used to think along similar lines myself, but I no longer think it is quite so simple.

While the gas taxes paid for my truckers may not come close to paying for the “third crossing,” it will take truck traffic off other routes, which is a benefit to all those who use those other routes. Unless there is a considerable savings in time, a toll will deter truckers from using the new route.

I suspect there will be other indirect benefits to this additional infrastructure that your analysis does not consider.

Now we can go back and do it right.

These projects should never have been lumped together to be paid for by the same source. Different projects require different funding schemes. See:

http://tidewaterliberty.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/paying-for-roads/

Those who benefit from a project most should proportionately bear the burden.