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Tag: highway

A practical plan for U.S. 220

Picture an hourglass: Flip the timer over, and the sand at the top funnels through a small opening to pool in the wider receptacle at its bottom.

Now imagine if that hole in the middle were wider; sand would flow more freely.

That’s how business leaders in Martinsville see the U.S. Route 220 corridor between Roanoke and the North Carolina border. The wider the gap — the more capacity 220 has — the more commerce can flow to destinations north and south.

The Blue Ridge Innovation Corridor, a group consisting of business leaders from Southern Virginia and the Roanoke and New River valleys, wants to grow commerce in the region and, specifically, would like to see improvements made to about seven miles of U.S Route 220 between U.S. Route 58 in Henry County and the North Carolina line. 

Virginia lawmakers seem to be on board. In 2023, the General Assembly instructed the Virginia Department of Transportation to develop a plan to improve the section of road by relocating and regrading southbound lanes, designing safer intersections and extending turn lanes. Expected to be completed this fall, the study will cost about $200,000, money that will come from VDOT’s state planning and research fund, according to an agency spokesperson.

Del. Eric Phillips, R-Henry, and Jim Frith, chair and co-owner of Martinsville-based Frith Construction, both stress that the area has seen significant economic activity in recent years. This includes Poland-based glass fabricator Press Glass, which invested $155 million to expand at Henry County’s Commonwealth Crossing Industrial Park in 2023.

“When you make stuff, you’ve got to transport it,” Phillips says.

In 1991, members of Congress made plans to establish Interstate 73 as a high-priority corridor that would run from South Carolina to Michigan, but it wound up as a 93.5-mile route limited to North Carolina. Later plans explored extending I-73 to Interstate 81 in Roanoke, but those proposals “just died,” Frith says. “There was just no way it would ever be funded.”

In 2020, VDOT released a study looking at a possible bypass from U.S. Route 58 to the North Carolina line. Building a new interstate and that project would both require more funding than improving the existing corridor.

And proponents say an improved road is better than the status quo.

“We’re just happy that there’s some forward momentum beginning to happen,” Phillips says.

Associate Editor Beth JoJack contributed to this article.

Construction starts on I-495 express lanes extension

Virginia and Transurban North America officials held a groundbreaking Monday for the $660 million extension of the Interstate 495 express lanes in Fairfax County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced.

The 495 Express Lanes Northern Extension (495 NEXT) project is occurring on a 2.5-mile stretch between the Dulles Corridor and the George Washington Memorial Parkway and will add tolled express lanes in each direction. The project is estimated to generate more than $880 million in economic benefits and 6,300 jobs.

“The 495 NEXT project represents the commonwealth’s commitment to improving regional infrastructure and traffic flow for Virginians, our visitors and the broader business community,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Together with our partners from the public and private sectors, we are prioritizing investments in Virginia’s transportation network to keep people, goods and our economy moving.”

The project is designed to reduce congestion, support new transit services and minimize cut-through traffic in residential communities. It’s estimated to cut express lanes users’ travel times by up to 50% and reduce crashes by 20%.

Its scope includes the replacement or rehabilitation of seven bridges, replacement of nine noise walls and construction of another, environmental commitments to manage stormwater, four miles of bicycle and pedestrian construction and funding for new American Legion Bridge bus service connecting Virginia and Maryland.

Transurban, an Australian company with North American operations based in Falls Church, is Virginia’s private partner and operator of the interstates 495, 95 and 395 express lanes.

“495 NEXT expands the benefits of faster and more reliable travel to more drivers in the region,” Transurban North America President Pierce Coffee said in a statement. “We know at Transurban that regional mobility is strengthened when the public and private sectors come together and we are seeing another strong example of that marking today’s milestone.”

Transurban and the Virginia Department of Transportation completed an agreement for 495 NEXT in October 2021, and Transurban selected Lane Construction as the project’s design-build contractor. On Feb. 28, Transurban secured financing through a mix of equity and debt, including loans through the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and the Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank.

The project includes the replacement or rehabilitation of seven bridges, replacement of nine noise walls and construction of another, environmental commitments to manage stormwater, four miles of bicycle and pedestrian construction and funding for new American Legion Bridge bus service connecting Virginia and Maryland.

Crews will continue early exploratory activities like surveying and begin to prepare for construction in the coming months. The extended lanes are scheduled to open in 2025.

A sampling of Virginia’s major road projects

HAMPTON ROADS
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project

Construction on the $3.8 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) expansion — the largest highway construction project in Virginia’s history — began in October 2020. The project will widen the four-lane segments of the 9.9-mile Interstate 64 corridor in Norfolk and Hampton to six lanes and create twin two-lane tunnels underwater across the harbor.

Crews will use a $70 million custom-built tunnel boring machine (TBM) to carve out an underwater path for the tunnels. HRBT is the fourth U.S. roadway project to use a TBM. The machine’s front end has a 46-foot-diameter cutterhead that will create an approximately 45-foot-wide opening. The TBM, named “Mary” after Mary Winston Jackson, the late NASA mathematician and aerospace engineer depicted in the 2016 film “Hidden Figures,” will be assembled and readied to start excavation by mid-2022. The entire project is scheduled for completion in November 2025.

 


NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Improve 95, Transform 66 projects

As part of its Improve 95 plan to relieve congestion, the state government entered into a $1 billion public-private partnership with Transurban, an Australian toll-road operations company with its U.S. headquarters in Alexandria. The Fredericksburg Extension (Fred Ex) project will extend Interstate 95 express lanes about 10 miles south to Exit 133 in Stafford County, and Transurban will operate and maintain the lanes and charge variable usage tolls in a contract that extends until 2087. Construction on the $565 million project started in spring 2019. The project is behind its scheduled opening date for this year. The current schedule is under review, and the completion date for contracted construction is now set for 2023. Developers say the extension will provide 66% more capacity during peak periods.

Further north, the Virginia Department of Transportation, the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation and I-66 Express Mobility Partners are working on the $3.7 billion Transform 66 Outside the Beltway project, which will build 22.5 miles of new express lanes alongside interstates 66 and 495. The lanes are scheduled to open in December. The project also includes improved bus service and transit routes, expanded park and ride lots, interchange improvements and 11 miles of new bike and pedestrian trails.


SHENANDOAH/SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
Interstate 81 improvements, Coalfields Expressway

The $2.2 billion Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Program consists of 64 planned improvements to the 325-mile corridor from Bristol to Winchester, resulting from a 2018 state study. Focused on safety and reliability, the project includes bridge replacements, ramp extensions, highway widening, curb improvements and additional auxiliary lanes. The program has a 2031 completion date, and improvements are in varying stages. One recently completed project is the replacement of nearly 60-year-old bridges over Reed Creek in Wythe County, which concluded in September 2021.

The Coalfields Expressway — U.S. Route 460/121 — will run through Southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia, boosting commerce and tourism. In January, VDOT announced a $207 million agreement to construct a 2-mile section of U.S. 460 that will extend from near Route 604 to the existing Route 460 in Grundy. Construction is expected to begin in late 2022 or early 2023. 

Coalfield Expressway could have $12.8B impact, study says

The cumulative economic impact of the Coalfields Expressway (CFX) during a 50-year span is estimated to be $12.8 billion in 2021 dollars, according to a study by Richmond-based Chmura Economics & Analytics presented Tuesday.

The CFX is a proposed limited-access highway that would run through Southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia. It is designated as U.S. Route 121 and a congressional high priority corridor.

West Virginia has started on the CFX. In Virginia, only a shared section with U.S. 460 in Buchanan County is funded.

The Virginia Coalfields Expressway Authority and the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority requested that Chmura conduct the study, building on a study it finished in 2013. The Virginia CFX Authority Board heard the results Tuesday in Lebanon.

The study found that while the completed roadway would cost $3.1 billion, each dollar invested could yield $3.10 in economic impact over the highway’s lifespan.

The study conclusion anticipates that construction of the CFX would inject an annual average of $225.4 million into the local economy from 2013 through 2038 and that it would generate 1,543 jobs each year in that period. The construction’s one-time impact is expected to reach $5.9 billion in the corridor from 2013 to 2038, of which $4.1 billion would be in direct construction spending. The cumulative ripple effect of the capital investment could generate $1.8 billion in spending and 13,859 cumulative jobs in the corridor.

According to the study, “CFX can help improve travel efficiency and provide cost savings. The total user benefits are estimated to reach $89.2 million in 2039.”

Chmura estimated that the CRX could support 79 service businesses, which would likely be clustered around access points on the roadway, in 2039. The businesses could generate $151.9 million and create 1,236 jobs.

State and local governments would reap $7.8 million in 2039 from sales tax, corporate income tax and individual income tax, the study estimates.

The study notes that the CFX would benefit mining, manufacturing and agricultural businesses by providing easier access to markets. The presence of an interstate highway could also increase the appeal of the region to expanding and relocating firms, as well as increasing population and tourism growth and improving the region’s quality of life.

Dinwiddie company wins $107M I-95 contract

Dinwiddie County-based road construction company Wagman Heavy Civil Inc. announced Friday it’s been awarded a $107 million contract for the Interstate 95 Northbound Rappahannock River Crossing project in Stafford County. 

“We are excited to begin our work that will provide critical mobility and safety improvements on I-95 including the interchange at Route 17,” Greg Andricos, Wagman president and COO said in a statement. “Wagman looks forward to safely and expeditiously delivering this project through partnership with VDOT, city of Fredericksburg, Stafford County and all other stakeholders.”

The project was awarded by the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which regulates and funds transportation projects in Virginia. The contract includes the design and construction of three general purpose lanes for I-95 north and a bridge across the Rappahannock River. Three existing lanes will also be converted into collector-distributor lanes (lower capacity lanes), with the goal to reduce congestion. Wagman is also working on the $101.6 million I-95 southbound Rappahannock River Crossing project, which includes design and construction of three general-purpose lanes for I-95 southbound, converting three lanes to collector-distributer lanes and a bridge built over Route 17.

The new contract also includes three bid options: an extension of the auxiliary lane along the I-95 northbound general purpose lanes, reconstruction and widening of I-95 northbound collector distributor lanes and installing a sidewalk along the north side of northbound Route 17.

Construction is expected to begin this fall. 

Founded in 1902 and based in Pennsylvania, Wagman is a heavy civil contractor and is a fourth-generation, family-owned company. Wagman specializes in design-build, infrastructure, marine construction, modified concrete, grooving and grinding and geotechnical construction services. In 2019, Wagman completed its $22 million project to replace a pair of bridges on I-95 over the Meherrin River in Emporia.

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