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IMMEDIATE Tamara Neale 804-786-6458 Tamara.Neale@VDOT.Virginia.gov |
CO-0549 Oct. 21, 2005 |
VDOT Receives National Praise for Running One of the Best Public-Private Venture Projects in the Country
RICHMOND, Oct. 21, 2005 – The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) selected the Capital Beltway (I-495) High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes project in Northern Virginia as one of the top three public-private ventures in the country. The other two projects selected were the Texas Department of Transportation’s Trans-Texas Corridor, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation’s LA 1.
It takes a special project to be selected as a “Project of the Year,” according to Michael F. Martin, ARTBA’s managing director of the public-private ventures division. “A project has to either push the envelope for the field of public-private partnerships and innovative financing, or have national or regional significance. In the case of Virginia’s I-495 HOT lanes, it does both.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) entered into a comprehensive agreement last April with Fluor Enterprises, Inc. and Transurban (USA) Inc. to improve the Capital Beltway (I-495). The comprehensive agreement was signed under Virginia’s Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA). The PPTA allows Virginia to partner with the private sector to build projects more efficiently.
“The recognition is a result of VDOT’s ongoing efforts to build a successful public-private program, in which the private sector shares in the financial risk of project construction and operations,” said Acting VDOT Commissioner Gregory A. Whirley. “The Capital Beltway HOT lanes PPTA project sets the bar higher on private sector risk because Transurban and Fluor are willing to invest their own money and resources to improve mobility in a highly congested area.”
The project would add two HOT lanes in each direction on a 14-mile segment of the Capital Beltway, from north of the Springfield Interchange to north of the Dulles Toll Road. HOT lanes would be free to carpoolers, buses and emergency vehicles. All others would pay a variable toll to use the lanes.
Before construction can begin, Transurban and Fluor will pay for and complete an in-depth traffic and revenue study, which will determine if HOT lanes are economically viable and help to set a fair and equitable toll structure.
VDOT has a specialized team of professionals – the Innovative Project Delivery Division – who execute a statewide program of projects financed through the PPTA process. VDOT’s portfolio of PPTA projects totals $2 billion.
Go to www.VirginiaDOT.org for more information on VDOT’s PPTA program.
A direct link to the Capital Beltway (I-495) HOT lanes PPTA project is http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/ppta-defaultHOTLANESCapitalBeltway.asp
It takes a special project to be selected as a “Project of the Year,” according to Michael F. Martin, ARTBA’s managing director of the public-private ventures division. “A project has to either push the envelope for the field of public-private partnerships and innovative financing, or have national or regional significance. In the case of Virginia’s I-495 HOT lanes, it does both.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) entered into a comprehensive agreement last April with Fluor Enterprises, Inc. and Transurban (USA) Inc. to improve the Capital Beltway (I-495). The comprehensive agreement was signed under Virginia’s Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA). The PPTA allows Virginia to partner with the private sector to build projects more efficiently.
“The recognition is a result of VDOT’s ongoing efforts to build a successful public-private program, in which the private sector shares in the financial risk of project construction and operations,” said Acting VDOT Commissioner Gregory A. Whirley. “The Capital Beltway HOT lanes PPTA project sets the bar higher on private sector risk because Transurban and Fluor are willing to invest their own money and resources to improve mobility in a highly congested area.”
The project would add two HOT lanes in each direction on a 14-mile segment of the Capital Beltway, from north of the Springfield Interchange to north of the Dulles Toll Road. HOT lanes would be free to carpoolers, buses and emergency vehicles. All others would pay a variable toll to use the lanes.
Before construction can begin, Transurban and Fluor will pay for and complete an in-depth traffic and revenue study, which will determine if HOT lanes are economically viable and help to set a fair and equitable toll structure.
VDOT has a specialized team of professionals – the Innovative Project Delivery Division – who execute a statewide program of projects financed through the PPTA process. VDOT’s portfolio of PPTA projects totals $2 billion.
Go to www.VirginiaDOT.org for more information on VDOT’s PPTA program.
A direct link to the Capital Beltway (I-495) HOT lanes PPTA project is http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/ppta-defaultHOTLANESCapitalBeltway.asp
Page last modified: Oct. 21, 2005
