McDonnell says if the local highway oversight group known as the Metropolitan Planning Organization takes the Western Bypass off its Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan, our highway district could lose a lot of money….  The Attorney General issued his opinion at the request of Lynchburg State Senator Steve Newman (pictured below), who’s been fighting for years to get a bypass around Charlottesville.Attorney General McDonnell’s letter is here (PDF):You ask whether the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (“MPO”) would risk losing its primary system highway construction funds should it remove the proposed U.S. Route 29 Bypass around Charlottesville (“Bypass”) from its Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan (“Plan”).  If MPO removes the Bypass from its Plan and the federal government requests reimbursement of its funds expended on the Bypass, you ask whether MPO would be required to repay such amount from its primary highway system funds.  Response It is my opinion that if MPO removes the Bypass from its Plan and the Federal Highway Administration requires the Commonwealth to reimburse the funds spent on the Bypass, an amount equal to such reimbursement would be deducted from the primary system highway construction funds for the Department of Transportation district in which the Bypass is located.

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