Tag: Downtown-Midtown Tunnel
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MidTown Tunnel to Open this Summer
A rare piece of good news on the infrastructure front: The new Midtown Tunnel between Norfolk and Portsmouth will open early this summer, months ahead of its scheduled December completion. Officials with Elizabeth River Crossing said they had made “significant progress” on construction, and expect both lanes of the second tube to be fully open…
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McAuliffe Provides More Relief for Hampton Roads Tolls
by James A. Bacon The Commonwealth Transportation Board voted Wednesday to make good on Governor Terry McAuliffe’s campaign promise to lower the tolls on two Elizabeth River tunnels. Tolls still will go up but less rapidly than provided for in the $2.1 billion public-private partnership agreement for the Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel project. Relief for the…
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Only Two Words Suffice: Holy Moly! Make that Three Words: Holy Friggin’ Moly!
Portsmouth Circuit Court Judge James A. Cales Jr. ruled Wedesday that the state’s $2.1 billion public-private partnership deal for the Downtown-Midtown Tunnel project is unconstitutional. Reports the Virginian-Pilot: Cales said in his ruling that the General Assembly exceeded its authority in giving VDOT “unfettered power” to set toll rates under the 1995 Public-Private Transportation Act.…
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CTB Authorizes $100 Million for Norfolk Toll Relief
by James A. Bacon The Commonwealth Transportation Board has allocated approximately $100 million in transportation funds to cover the cost of delaying tolls on the Midtown-Downtown tunnels for a year and half, but Norfolk-area commuters still will be stuck paying tolls for two or more years before the new tunnels and Martin Luther King Boulevard…
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$100 Million in Mo’ Money for Hampton Roads Tunnels
The Virginia Department of Transportation has reached financial close with Elizabeth River Crossings to begin construction of the new $2.1 billion Midtown/Downtown Tunnel project in Norfolk. Also, Governor Bob McDonnell announced today, he will ask the Commonwealth Transportation Board to allocate “up to $100 million” to cover the cost of delaying the tolls until January…
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“Address the Transportation Crisis” — Code Words for Mo’ Money
by James A. Bacon In a foreshadowing of a possible grand urban alliance, Hampton Roads mayors have reached out to counterparts in Northern Virginia and the Richmond region to unite in pursuit of a comprehensive transportation funding solution. “We all recognize the crisis Virginia faces as it relates to transportation, therefore, we strongly believe it…
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Midtown Meltdown
Norfolk Midtown Tunnel. Photo credit: VDOT by James A. Bacon The controversy over tolls on the $2.1 billion Midtown Tunnel/Downtown Tunnel project in Hampton Roads is spreading statewide as transportation advocates in other parts of Virginia ponder the implications of what it means for them. In a missive distributed yesterday Robert Chase, president of the Northern…