Transportation

Department of Transportation; guardrail modernization; report. Requires the Department of Transportation (the Department) to identify, prioritize, and conduct the replacement of guardrail systems and end treatments that do not meet current Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) safety standards. The bill requires the Department to (i) identify and use any state or federal funds available to the Department for such purposes and, as necessary, apply for other grant funds; (ii) create and maintain a public inventory of non-compliant guardrail systems and end treatments; (iii) create a five-year upgrade schedule for the replacement of non-compliant guardrail systems and end treatments; and (iv) submit an annual report to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation.

Department of Transportation; protective caps for guardrail posts; report. Directs the Department of Transportation to develop and adopt statewide standards and requirements for protective caps or other comparable shielding for exposed guardrail posts installed or replaced on or after July 1, 2027.

Rappahannock Area Transportation Authority created; funding; recordation tax; sales and use tax; report. Creates the Rappahannock Area Transportation Authority, initially comprising the counties with a population in excess of 150,000 and cities located in Planning District 16. The bill authorizes any locality in Planning District 16 to join the Authority by resolution or ordinance of such governing body. The Authority will administer transportation funding generated through the imposition of (i) an additional regional 0.5 percent sales and use tax, (ii) an additional transportation improvement grantor's fee at a rate of $0.06 per $100 of the consideration for the conveyance, and (iii) a local transportation transient occupancy tax at a rate of one percent of the amount of the charge for the occupancy of any room or space occupied in any county or city in Planning District 16. The bill also increases the annual distribution of recordation tax revenues to cities and counties from $20 million to $55 million and dedicates $15 million of such annual distribution to the Rappahannock Area Transportation Fund, created by the bill.