Gov. Bob McDonnell signed into law pieces of legislation that he says will allow Virginia to become the 'energy capital of the east coast.'

The legislation sets aside 80 percent of royalties for future offshore drilling for transportation in the state.

Currently, the Virginia Department of Transportation is facing a $4.6 million budget shortfall which has a trickle down affect to many other industries, including tourism. Part of successful tourism is making a good impression, but for many visitor's the first impression they get of the state is often of Virginia's roads.

Sheryl Wagner, director of tourism in Staunton, said tourism and that first impression are vital to the local economy. "We are a drive-to market, so roads are important to us," said Wagner.

However, with the limited budget, VDOT is not spending the money on cosmetic road maintenance. "You saw us significantly reduce the amount of grass cutting that we did, so grass cutting along the roadways, the grass was significantly higher than in years past," said VDOT spokesperson Jeffrey Caldwell.

Gov. McDonnell's announcement could mean more money in the transportation budget, but VDOT is not factoring the energy money in just yet. Their budget comes from estimates from the Department of Taxation. "Any changes have to be factored in through those official revenue estimates before we could decide whether we can spend any more money on construction or maintenance," said Caldwell.

Furthermore, it could be several years before transportation receives any energy money in those estimates. However, cities like Staunton are hoping for the money sooner rather than later. With over half of the visitors to the area being return visitors, the tourism economy depends on people wanting to make the drive back. "We want to make sure they have a great time when they are here, they have a good time getting here and then they'll come back," Wagner said.