State sweetens pot to get bidders for new U.S. 460

Hoping to boost interest among road builders to construct and operate a new multibillion-dollar U.S. 460 as a toll road, the state highway department is throwing in cash and other incentives.

An original proposal had no public subsidy. Now, the state is willing to consider kicking in some money to make the project a reality but has not indicated a dollar amount.

As a purely private proposition, "it obviously went nowhere," said Jeffrey C. Southard, executive vice president of the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance, a trade association of businesses that build and operate roads. "If there is going to be a public investment, I think it will spark a lot of interest."

"For a long time, people have said it could not sustain itself... While tolls and other incentives could cover part of it, there would need to be some public investment."

Virginia Department of Transportation Commissioner Greg Whirley said that as a result of discussions with the private sector it became clear: "To get a good competitive proposal, we're going to have to take on some of the financial risk."

Whirley said the state has not set a range for a state contribution or identified a funding source other than normal transportation funds.

Tax breaks, permit waivers, higher speed limits and truck restrictions on the existing U.S. 460 were also added to the state's solicitation for a public-private partnership. Some of the options would require General Assembly approval.

Proposers may also consider developing transportation-related businesses along the freeway, or designing a highway so there are no interchanges except at the start and the end of the route. Restrictions were also added. Interested bidders cannot propose tolling other roads, or restrict trucks on Interstate 64, or consider an alternative alignment.

The revisions were outlined Tuesday by Virginia Department of Transportation leaders to potential bidders in a webinar.

Whirley said that by building into the solicitation the other features designed to save money and generate revenue, "we hope our public participation will be minimized."

"We will get a better proposal with the new assumptions we've laid out," he added.

Building a limited-access toll road between Suffolk and Petersburg is Gov. Bob McDonnell's top transportation priority. The project has long been seen by planners as a way to ease congestion into and out of Hampton Roads and reduce traffic jams on Interstate 64 and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

VDOT received three private proposals from a 2006 solicitation on the project. Those proposals ranged from $1 billion to $1.9 billion and required up to $734 million in state funds. Tolls would have reached $13.

In May, Whirley terminated that procurement process "due to changes in market conditions," a news release stated. VDOT then issued a new solicitation for proposals.

The project calls for building a 55-mile, four-lane, divided highway between Suffolk and Petersburg. The path of the new road, south of the existing U.S. 460, has been approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board and the Federal Highway Administration. U.S. 460 was built in the 1930s and was widened about 20 years later.