Here are the details on the proposed upgrade of U.S. 460 between Suffolk and Petersburg, from the Executive Summary of the U. S. Route 460 Communications Committee. The project, to refresh your memory, would be a public-private partnership. Some of this information had been published in newspaper accounts, but not all.
The justification for the investment of considerable state funds and imposition of a toll is the need (a) to accommodate growing truck traffic from the ports in Hampton Roads and (b) to provide an alternative hurricane evacuation route. Detailed proposals will be due in Spring of 2008 and negotiation and execution of an interim or comprehensive agreement will occur in Fall of 2008.
Cintra 460
Concession period: 50 years
Est. Completion: Jan. 2014
Est. DB price: $1,051 million (2006)
Public funding: $174.5 million (base case)
Other funding: TIFIA loan $450 million
Toll rate: $0.07 to 0.24/mile
Equity contribution: Cintra will “provide equity in substantial amounts”
Itinere
Concession period: 60 years
Est. Completion: Dec. 2013
Est. DB price: $1,550 million (2006)
Public funding: state/federal – $1,056 million
Other funding: Private activity bonds – $477 million, TIFIA – $144 million
Toll rate: $0.14/mile
Equity contribution: $98 million
VCP
Concession period: 50 years
Est. Completion: June 2014
Est. DB price: $1,535 million (2006)
Public funding:
Other funding: Private activity bonds – $1,849 million, TIFIA – $219 million
Toll rate: $0.24/mile
Equity contribution: $363 million for base case
What I’m still waiting to see is a detailed cost-benefit analysis of this project, which would create a brand, spanking new divided highway in place of the existing four-lane road with peak speed limits of 55 mph and numerous stoplights. What are the projected traffic volumes? What will be the impact on human settlement patterns along the corridor? I’m also wondering what alternatives were considered for upgrading the existing four-lane road.
(Photo cutline: U.S. 460 in Wakefield. Photo credit: Virginiahighways.com.)
