By EDIE GROSS
Two road-construction teams claim they can add nearly $1 billion worth of extra lanes to Interstate 95 between Washington and Massaponax without spending a dime of state money.
A panel of state and regional transportation officials will spend the next six months evaluating the proposals to see if either is realistic.
The plans have existed in sort of a preliminary fashion for more than a year, with both teams offering to build High-Occupancy Toll lanes--or HOT lanes--from Northern Virginia to the Fredericksburg region.
But each submitted a more detailed plan to the Virginia Department of Transportation yesterday, painting clearer pictures of how they hope to break up congestion without using taxpayer dollars.
Fluor/Transurban's $913 million proposal would convert the existing two HOV lanes in Northern Virginia to three HOT lanes. Cars with three or more occupants would have free access to the facility, which would start at the 14th Street Bridge, but other motorists would pay to use it.
The Fluor/Transurban plan would also build two HOT lanes from Dumfries down to Massaponax and add six 500-space commuter lots along the I-95 corridor, including one each in Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg and Stafford.
The other proposal, submitted by Clark Construction and Shirley Contracting Co., would provide three HOT lanes from the 14th Street Bridge to State Route 610 in North Stafford and then two such lanes down to U.S. 17 in southern Stafford.
From there, the team would build a series of collector-distributor lanes and extra travel lanes on the mainline of I-95 to help move traffic between U.S. 17 and the congested Massaponax area. Those lanes would be open to all motorists free of charge.
The Clark/Shirley plan would cost about $815 million. Originally, that proposal stopped at U.S. 17 in Stafford with an option to add improvements south of there.
After looking at traffic counts in Spotsylvania, the group is set on providing extra highway capacity all the way to Massaponax, said Clark Bottner, project director with Shirley Contracting Co.
"They're not options," he said. "They're not maybes. They're definites."
Both groups also provide some cash. Fluor/Transurban would give VDOT $250 million upfront or about $510 million over 60 years--the arrangement is up to VDOT--to invest in public transportation options, like commuter buses and trains.
Clark/Shirley would provide $30 million to the Virginia Railway Express for new rail cars, $30 million to expand park-and-ride lots along the I-95 corridor and $85 million to build the last phase of the Springfield Interchange--freeing up state money already set aside for that phase.
According to both proposals, the highway projects would be paid for with bonds, federal loans and private investor funds. Both groups stressed that no public money would be necessary.
"The people proposing the idea and developing the idea are taking a lot of risk. That's a major first for Virginia," said Gary Groat, director of project development for Fluor. "This is a 100 percent, self-financing project with no burden on VDOT, no burden on the Commonwealth or its taxpayers."
The teams propose using slightly different technology to monitor the toll lanes, but in general they'd work like this: Each motorist would have a transponder attached to his car.
A combination of cameras, sensors and hired police officers would make sure that car-poolers rode for free while single motorists paid the tolls.
Tolls would range in price from 15 cents to 30 cents a mile, depending on what time of day it was and where on the facility you happened to be. A lone motorist driving all the way from Massaponax into the district during peak rush hour could shell out nearly $17 for the privilege of using the facility.
As the HOT lanes become more crowded, those tolls would rise, discouraging some paying motorists and securing more space for those who share rides. In a worst-case scenario, the lanes could be closed to paying customers altogether, ensuring that car-poolers have access and a smooth ride.
Tolls and investor dollars would cover the cost of maintaining the new lanes, according to the proposals.
A 14-member advisory panel will review both proposals between now and November, when it is expected to make a recommendation to Interim Transportation Commissioner Gregory A. Whirley.
Whirley, in turn, could decide by January of next year whether either plan is worth pursuing.
The advisory panel will meet four times in the coming months, including once in Stafford on July 12 at 7 p.m. The meeting, in the Board of Supervisors chambers at 1300 Courthouse Road, is open to the public though no oral comments will be taken.
Both road plans should be posted on VDOT's Web site by Monday. To view the plans or submit a comment, visit virginiadot.org/proj ects/ppta-I-95_I-395HOTLanes.asp on the Web.
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