Tom Warne Report, 19 October 2012
RICHMOND – Governor Bob McDonnell (Virginia) has selected the US 460 Mobility Partners to finance, design and build a new 55-mile stretch of Route 460 in southeastern Virginia. The selection was made after a two-year procurement process involving detailed review and evaluation of private-sector proposals. Construction will be financed through a combination of public dollars and tolls. The existing Route 460 remains free.
“The new Route 460 highway is critical to economic development in this growing region of Virginia. This project is expected to create 4,000 thousand jobs during construction and more than 14,000 long-term jobs when the new road opens,” said McDonnell. “The new highway will stimulate business development in the region and accommodate greater freight traffic from the Port of Virginia, benefiting the entire commonwealth. Chmura Economics estimates that the new highway will have an annual economic impact by 2020 estimated at $7.3 billion.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in coordination with the Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships is procuring the project under Virginia’s Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA), which allows the Commonwealth to partner with the private sector to finance, design and build transportation improvements.
A few project highlights-
• Project cost is $1.396 billion.
• Tolls will be collected electronically using E-ZPass and license plate video tolling; no manual toll collection.
• Existing Route 460 will have no tolls and remain the free alternative.