Virginia's Elizabeth River Crossings Project Honored

Virginia’s Elizabeth River Crossings tunnel project has been named the 2012 North America Toll Road Deal of the Year by Project Finance Magazine.

The state reached financial close on the $2.1 billion toll concession in April 2012 with private partners Elizabeth River Crossings Opco LLC, a consortium formed by Skanska Infrastructure Development and Macquarie Group Ltd.

The project involves building a new tunnel under the Elizabeth River between Norfolk and Portsmouth, which will parallel the existing Midtown Tunnel. The existing tunnel and two other downtown tunnels will be upgraded.

Under the terms of the public-private partnership, the Virginia Department of Transportation will maintain ownership of the infrastructure and oversee ERC’s activities.

ERC financed the facilities, and will operate and maintain them for a 58-year period in exchange for the right to collect toll revenue from traffic using the tunnel.

The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority priced $664 million of private-activity bonds in March 2012 for the project, the largest PAB sale ever, according to the magazine.

The U.S. Department of Transportation approved a $422 million loan under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act. VDOT said it would commit $400 million to the project.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2017.

 

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Transportation industry Virginia
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