CTB releases draft of six-year plan

Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) released the draft of its six-year program Wednesday, plump with an additional $4 billion from the new transportation revenues signed into law last week.

The $15.4 billion program will accelerate many projects already in the plan and add new projects. It includes improvements to highway, road, rail, transit and bridge projects.

One of the first signs motorists may see of the new plans are major paving operations designed to upgrade Virginia’s current roads.

The plan will break down as follows:

• Highways and bridges: $11.1 billion ($2.1 billion increase)
• Rail and public transportation: $3 billion ($600,000 increase)
• Hampton Roads transportation fund: $1.3 billion
• $1.9 billion for Northern Virginia Transportation Authority

“The CTB is putting the new funding into action by programming where the transportation dollars will go, including rehabilitating existing roads, adding new capacity to ease congestion and expanding intercity passenger rail service,” Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton said in a statement. “The draft program is about making all modes of transportation better statewide.”

The public can view the draft at www.virginiadot.org/projects/syp-default.asp. The CTB is taking public comments at the following dates.

May 28: 6 p.m., VDOT Central Office, Richmond
May 29: 6 p.m., Potomac Conference Center, Fairfax
June 4: 6 p.m., Northside High School, Roanoke
June 5: 6 p.m., Chesapeake Conference Center, Chesapeake

Following are some of the projects that will be funded with the new money:

Statewide
· Pavement and bridge rehabilitation
· Smart roadway technology

Northern Virginia
· Funding to advance the Metro Silver Line and help reduce tolls on the Dulles Toll Road
· I-66/Route 28 interchange improvements
· Route 606 Dulles loop

Fredericksburg
· I-95/Route 17 improvements over the Rappahannock River
· Route 630 interchange relocation

Hampton Roads
· Increased intercity passenger rail service between Norfolk, Petersburg and Richmond
· I-64 widening from Newport News to Williamsburg
· Route 165 widening (Military Highway) in Norfolk

Richmond
· Rail improvements between Petersburg, Richmond, and Washington, DC
· I-95/I-64 overlap safety improvements
· Lewistown Road bridge replacement

Culpeper, Shenandoah Valley and southwestern Virginia
· Extension of intercity passenger rail service to the City of Roanoke within four years
· Route 29/Route 666 interchange improvement in the Culpeper region
· I-81 bridge replacement over the New River in Salem region
· Route 340 bridge replacement in Staunton region
· Greenview Drive widening in Lynchburg region
· AltaVista/Town of Hurt bridge replacement
· Coalfields Expressway’s Cranes Nest section in Bristol region
· Route 19/Route 460 Claypool Hill intersection improvements in Bristol region