DALLAS – Virginia is seeking a $200 million federal grant to start work on its $1.4 billion Atlantic Gateway mobility program of highway, bridge, and rail projects along the Interstate 95 corridor in northern Virginia.
The congestion-busting effort would include extensions to both ends of an existing tolled express lane system on I-95, replacement of a vital I-95 bridge across the Rappahannock River, reconstruction of a rail bridge that spans the Potomac River, and acquisition of an abandoned rail line from Petersburg, Va., to the North Carolina border for eventual conversion to high-speed rail service.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said the program would also improve freight rail movement in the region, which competes with passenger service for limited track space into and out of the Port of Virginia.
"This will be the most comprehensive transportation package in Virginia history," McAuliffe said.
His staff has been working on the program for two years, he said.
The Atlantic Gateway funding would include the federal FASTLANE grant, state funding, and private investments, McAuliffe said.
The Transportation Department will award $800 million of discretionary grants this year for highway and rail freight projects from the FASTLANE funding provided by the five-year, $305 billion Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act. The grant funding will increase by $50 million per year before peaking at $1 billion in fiscal 2020.
Work would begin on the projects as soon as the state receives word of the grant award, he said.
"We'll immediately start moving ahead," McAuliffe said. "I want shovels in the ground. I want action."
The state would defer the program if the Transportation Department does not award the FASTLANE grant to Virginia, he said.
"We can fix this and we are within days of finding out if we're going to have [the grant]," McAuliffe said. "I give it 80% chance we get it."
The Atlantic Gateway is the type of big, multi-modal project that Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has said is needed to handle increased traffic and a growing population, McAuliffe said.
"If the secretary of transportation is watching, this is the single biggest thing he can invest in," McAuliffe said. "This is more congested than Atlanta or even Miami and he (Foxx) has the opportunity to unlock this region."
Relieving congestion along I-95 in Virginia would ease the flow of traffic on I-95 in Maryland, North Carolina, and other southeastern states as well, he said.
The Atlantic Gateway projects include an 8-mile extension from Alexandria, Va., to the Pentagon area of the northern portion of the I-95 express lanes and a 10-mile southern extension of the express lanes to Fredericksburg. A new Rappahannock River bridge would also reduce congestion for southbound vehicles.
Rail projects include adding a fourth track to the line between the Potomac River and Alexandria to eliminate a bottleneck for freight and passenger trains.
I-95 stretches along the Atlantic seaboard from the Canadian border in Maine to southern Florida. The highway accounts for 35% of total U.S. vehicle miles traveled and is the conduit for 5.3 billion tons of truck freight per year. Its 1,917-mile span includes 1,040 miles in urban areas, of which 60% are heavily congested.
The highway handles an average of 72,000 vehicles per day, including 10,000 heavy trucks, according to the I-95 Corridor Coalition, a group of East Coast state transportation agencies. By 2035 traffic loads are expected to average 133,000 vehicles per day, including 20,000 trucks, resulting in heavy congestion on 100% of the road in urban areas.
