WASHINGTON — Virginia is continuing its push to be the leading public-private partnership state, opening one of the east coast's most bustling travel corridors to private sector involvement a day after a major infrastructure firm announced it has moved its U.S. headquarters to the commonwealth.
Virginia's Office of Transportation Public Private Partnerships has issued a request for information seeking private sector input on approaches the Virginia Department of Transportation could use to finance transportation improvements on a 25-mile stretch of Interstate 66 in Northern Virginia.
The options could include more road capacity, tolled express lanes, and new infrastructure to allow bus rapid transit in the road's median.
"I-66 improvements begin with opening the gates to private sector ideas on how the Commonwealth can ease congestion on this vital transportation link in one of the most heavily traveled areas of the state and country," said Gov. Bob McDonnell. "The goal is to make I-66 an efficient and dynamic transportation facility so that motorists and commuters save time and money, while cutting down on the stress and cost of waiting in traffic."
VDOT and the P3 office will use the private sector responses to develop concepts, which might result in a formal procurement process under Virginia's P3 law, McDonnell's office said in a release.
Several concepts are in the environmental review stage, and could proceed to the financing stage once that process is concluded in the coming months. The commonwealth will also welcome other private-sector ideas, such as a possible extension to the Washington Metrorail and light rail proposals. Under McDonnell, Virginia has aggressively pursued P3 development and boasts prominent joint-venture projects in Northern Virginia and in the populous southeastern corner of the state.
The RFI comes just one day after Australian infrastructure firm Transurban, which is the private party on several Virginia P3s, announced it has relocated its U.S. headquarters from New York City to Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. Transurban is the concessionaire on the tolled Interstate 495 and Interstate 95 Express Lanes in Northern Virginia, and is also involved in transportation projects in southeastern Virginia. Both the 95 and 495 express lanes are supported by a combination of private activity bonds and low-interest federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loans.
"As we celebrated the opening of the 495 Express Lanes in Fairfax County last fall, Gov. McDonnell urged us during the ceremony to move our U.S. headquarters to Virginia," said Jennifer Aument, group general manager of Transurban North America. "We're pleased to officially call Virginia our home base as we continue to partner with Virginia on innovative transportation solutions that keep Virginians moving."
"Construction of the 495 and 95 Express Lanes has generated a significant number of jobs and delivered major economic benefits to Virginia," said McDonnell. "Not only have these important transportation projects created jobs, they also improve our transportation infrastructure by providing faster travel for goods, employees and services, enabling Virginia businesses to work more efficiently and reducing the billions of dollars lost every year due to traffic congestion."
