Virginia transportation officials come to Bristol tonight for another public gripe session on the increasingly unpopular plan to widen Interstate 81.

It is doubtful they will hear anything new. The region’s residents, particularly those motivated to attend hearings on the project, have been vocal in their dislike for the plan for several years. Their litany of complaints is long: too much pavement, too little emphasis on rail, too costly, too reliant on tolls for financing.

The critics make valid points. The project, as conceived by the STAR Solutions road-building consortium, is a colossal overreaction to the interstate’s legitimate need for safety improvements and a reduction in truck traffic. Instead of a targeted approach to trouble spots or a plan to get some of the trucks off the highway, the project calls for widening I-81 to a minimum of eight lanes from Bristol to Winchester, with some of those lanes set aside for trucks only. Critics contend the massive road would lure even more trucks with devastating affects on the air, the landscape and the quality of life.

STAR hatched the plan as a real-world test of the concept of separated truck lanes – a parallel interstate – for possible replication around the country. The federal government was supposed to provide the money for the experiment, but lawmakers wisely elected not to go along.

When Congress refused to sign the check, that should have been the death knell for the STAR plan, but a slightly scaled-down version is limping along. The Virginia Department of Transportation is still negotiating with STAR and the listening tour involves a study of the environmental impact of the STAR plan. Bad ideas die hard in Virginia.

However, the political winds might be shifting. Gov. Tim Kaine has expressed little support for the massive widening project. Perhaps Kaine is just being realistic, given the project’s price tag, the lack of federal support and the Virginia legislature’s transportation funding stalemate. Maybe he recognizes the foolishness of paving over so much of Virginia’s paradise. His reluctance should give hope to those who seek a different solution.

But it is the impact of STAR’s proposal that Virginia transportation officials are pondering. They’ve heard from the region before, but repetition drives home the important points. An eight-lane superhighway for trucks is an unwanted and unneeded answer to the interstate’s problems – one that would increase air pollution, destroy the scenery and pave over some of the state’s Civil War history.

Turning I-81 into a toll road is an equally preposterous suggestion that would cripple the region’s economy and work a hardship on its residents. The law doesn’t allow tolls on existing roads, nor should it.

Railroad improvements are no panacea, but should be part of the total picture. Virginia transportation officials likely skewed the numbers against rail by failing to consider a multi-state approach, but this can be corrected. Run the numbers on a multi-state plan before writing rail off.

I-81 is the region’s economic lifeline. The state should exercise extreme care before performing radical surgery.