RELEASE:
CONTACT: IMMEDIATE
Tamara Neale 804-786-6458 Office
804-840-2813 Cell
Email: Tamara.Neale@VDOT.Virginia.gov CO-0501
1/20/2005
PUBLIC-PRIVATE PROPOSALS TO BUILD I-95 HIGH OCCUPANCY TOLL LANES IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA AND FREDERICKSBURG MOVE TO NEXT STAGE OF REVIEW
RICHMOND – The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) today voted to move two private sector proposals that would widen the I-95 corridor in Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg to the next stage of review under the Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA). The PPTA allows the private sector to partner with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to finance and build road projects quicker and with less public money.
The two proposals are from the Clark Construction Group (including Shirley Contracting company and Koch Performance Roads), and Fluor Virginia, Inc. The Clark Construction Group proposes a $407 million project to improve 36 miles of I-95 from the Springfield Interchange in Fairfax County to Route 17 in Stafford County. Fluor Virginia, Inc. proposes a $1 billion project to improve 54 miles of I-95 from the 14th Street Bridge in Arlington County to south of the Route 17 Bypass in Massaponax.
The key features of both proposals are widening the existing two high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on I-95 in Northern Virginia to three high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes and extending the HOT lanes to Stafford County. Both proposals would also connect the HOT lanes to the beltway, known as Phase 8 of the Springfield Interchange.
The projects would be financed primarily through tolls. According to the proposals, a variable toll rate would apply to vehicles carrying fewer than three people each on the HOT lanes.
“Both proposals merit further review because the proposers meet the initial qualifications to finance and make much needed improvements to I-95,” said VDOT Commissioner Philip Shucet. “While public private partnerships provide funding options that would otherwise not be available for certain projects, no improvements can be made to I-95 until federal and state environmental reviews take place. That involves a great deal of public participation.”
The next step in the PPTA review process begins with the submission of the detailed proposals by both proposers. The detailed proposals will be reviewed by an advisory panel consisting of transportation experts and policy-makers. The advisory panel process is open to the public and will include one or more opportunities for public comments. The earliest the VDOT Commissioner would begin negotiations for a comprehensive agreement with one or both proposers is early 2006.
The proposals are posted at http://www.virginiadot.org/business/ppta-I-95HotLanes.asp
I-95 HOT Lanes Fact Sheet
Proposal descriptions:
Clark Construction Group proposes a $407 million project to improve 36 miles of I-95 from the Springfield Interchange in Fairfax County to Route 17 in Stafford County. Project characteristics:
Convert existing two HOV lanes between the Springfield Interchange and Route 234 (Dumfries Road) to three HOT lanes, then extend three HOT lanes from Route 234 to Route 17 in Stafford County
Build Phase 8 of the Springfield Interchange
Provide a 20-year pavement warranty
Fluor Virgnia, Inc. proposes a $1 billion project to improve 54 miles of I-95 from the 14th Street Bridge in Arlington County to Massaponax. Project characteristics:
Build a multimodal transportation facility between the 14th Street Bridge and Massaponax
Locate the bus rapid/HOT lanes in the center of the existing HOV lanes north of Dumfries and as a new two-lane road from Dumfries to Massaponax
Convert the existing two HOV lanes between the 14th Street Bridge and Route 234 (Dumfries) to three HOT lanes
Extend three HOT lanes from Route 234 to Route 610, then extend two HOT lanes from Route 610 to south of the Route 17 Bypass in Massaponax.
Build Phase 8 of the Springfield Interchange
PPTA process and estimated schedule:
Dec. 2004 – The initial review committee comprised of VDOT staff completed proposal evaluations to make sure they merit further review.
Jan. 2005 – The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved moving both HOT lane proposals to the next stage of review in the PPTA process.
Sept. 2005 - The advisory panel completes review of detailed proposals (Before the review, VDOT receives detailed proposals, holds a 60-day local government comment period, then the advisory panel - headed by the Deputy Secretary of Transportation and comprised of CTB members, local government and VDOT officials and members of the business and academic community - review the proposals.)
Dec. 2005 - The Commissioner considers the advisory panel’s recommendation. The panel may recommend to reject both proposals or to move forward with one or both proposals.
Jan. 2006 - If the Commissioner decides to move forward, he will begin negotiations for a comprehensive agreement with one or both proposers.
PPTA is a procurement vehicle for VDOT to fund projects. Regardless of how a project is procured – either through a public-private partnership or though conventional means – it must go through the required state and federal environmental laws and regulations. Environmental review involves public participation.
A $5 toll proposal for travel on Interstate 95 is gaining momentum in North Carolina, and has passed this week in the Virginia General Assembly. Toll booths would be set up at the border between the two states to collect revenues estimated in excess of $150 million annually, money that would be split by each state to help pay for needed maintenance of the interstate highway.

Virginia has apparently changed plans to go it alone with road improvement priorities to the I-95 section at the approach and departure corridors to Washington, D.C. The state strategy of partnering with private, for-profit road construction companies, such as Clark Construction Group and Fluor Virginia Inc., necessarily meant the placement of revenue collecting toll booths where they are least wanted and most inconvenient, on the already congested interstate travel points near the capital city of the United States.  

Two proposals to widen the  Springfield Interchange Improvement Project with more high-occupancy-vehicle lanes near Washington, D.C. on the Virginia side come at a combined cost in the range of $1.5 billion for the state to complete. A public-private partnership to fund the improvements, looked at by Virginia's Department of Transportation in January 2005, has now taken on a less region specific funding solution in favor of an interstate solution.

As a practical matter, toll collection booths located at the North Carolina-Virginia state line would spare motorists in the most affected Virginia region the hassle and expense of toll payments, but it misses imposing a toll on roadway users who are most responsible for the needed improvements. That expense, as currently proposed, is passed on to motorists using I-95 for the longer haul.

North Carolina governor Mike Easley has remained opposed to a Virginia-North Carolina Interstate Toll Road Compact. The estimated $4 billion in needed repairs to I-95 in that state, where in some places the roadway is 20-years-old, places a stress on budget resources necessary for the state to perform needed maintenance.

Senator Clark Jenkins of Tarboro County in North Carolina proposed legislation "to get the discussion started about the concept."