by James A. Bacon
Here’s another proposed transportation project to watch closely: The Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (FAMPO) has proposed building a new interchange on Interstate 95, estimated to cost $250 million to $300 million — or more, depending upon whom you believe — that would benefit the wealthy developers of the Celebrate Virginia project.
William M. Beck, former mayor of Fredericksburg, has joined Ronald D. Utt, transportation scholar for the Heritage Foundation, to write a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean T. Connaughton urging him not to fund the interchange. “Under the circumstances,” they write, “a very costly project of modest, yet uncertain, benefits would seem to be an unlikely candidate for such scarce funds, and we hope you agree. Moreover, at a minimum of $300 million, the acceptance of the project would force the cancellation of many more worthy projects around the state and in the Fredericksburg area.”
The rationale for the interchange is to relieve congestion on U.S. Route 3 by diverting traffic from Route 3, which is overloaded near its I-95 interchange, to a proposed, 3.5-mile toll road running from Route 3 near Gordon Road to its own intersection with I-95. As it so happens, the proposed route would zip right through Celebrate Virginia, a 2,500-acre tract owned by the Silver family, a major developer in the Fredericksburg area and Quantico guesstimated by Virginia Business magazine to be worth $750 million. The Silvers have invested millions of dollars in roads and other improvements at Celebrate Virginia through a Community Development Authority with the aim of creating an business/entertainment district that includes former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s ill-fated slavery museum as well as the highly controversial Kalahari water park, plans for which have been put on ice during the recession. At build-out, the Celebrate Virginia complex is expected to include more than 11 million square feet of commercial, residential and entertainment space.
A big drawback of Celebrate Virginia is its lack of direct access to I-95. Motorists must use the Route 3 exit to the south and drive through the heavily traveled Central Park retail district, also developed by the Silvers. The new interchange would greatly enhance the value of the property, and it should come as no surprise that the developer has been lobbying heavily to get it built. In 2010, the Silver Companies helped FAMPO underwrite a consulting study to evaluate options. That plan, submitted in May 2010, proposed building the interchange and connecting to the toll road. Meanwhile, the Silvers have engaged Washington lobbying firm Alcade & Fay to pursue a federal earmark for the interchange and toll road.
Although squeezing $300 million out of either the feds or the state is a tall order in the age of austerity, the developers can be assured at least of a respectful hearing. Patriarch Carl D. Silver, son Larry D. Silver, who now runs the companies from Boca Raton, Fla., and a host of enterprises they control have collectively donated $465,000 to various PACs and political candidates in Virginia since 2004. Among the donations: $5,000 to Sean Connaughton when he was chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and $5,000 more when he ran for lieutenant governor; $90,000 to former Gov. Tim Kaine, his inaugural and his Moving Virginia Forward fund; and $62,500 to Gov. Mark Warner and his inauguration. Interestingly, in a quick scan of the different entities through which the Silvers funnel political donations, I could not identify any contributions to Gov. Bob McDonnell. (If someone spots something I missed, please let me know.)
Write Beck and Utt: “The embrace of outsized corporate welfare projects flogged as investments that benefit us all, are as old as the Republic and were common in the great debate over government funding of canals during the administrations of Jefferson and Madison. Not much has changed since.”
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