By EDIE GROSS
Two road-building teams vying to widen Interstate 95 presented competing proposals to Spotsylvania supervisors last night.
The Board of Supervisors took no action during its monthly workshop. But like other elected officials up and down the I-95/I-395 corridor, Spotsylvania's supervisors are expected to comment on the proposals, possibly even endorsing one of them, by the Aug. 3 comment deadline.
A panel of state and regional transportation officials will spend the next six months collecting those comments and evaluating both proposals to see if either is worth pursuing.
Both would add a third lane to the existing HOV lanes in Northern Virginia and then convert them to High-Occupancy Toll lanes, or HOT lanes.
Like High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes, the HOT lane facilities would be free to buses and cars with three or more occupants.
But single motorists could pay a toll to use the lanes, shelling out more during peak periods than quiet ones.
Both proposals also would extend those HOT lanes up to Washington's 14th Street Bridge.
Where they differ is how they treat the Fredericksburg area.
The $913 million plan put forth by the Fluor/Transurban team would add two HOT lanes from Dumfries--where the current HOV lanes end--to Massaponax.
The $815 million proposal from the Clark/Shirley consortium would create three HOT lanes from Dumfries to State Route 610 in North Stafford and two HOT lanes from there down to U.S. 17 in southern Stafford.
At that point, Clark/Shirley would build a series of collector-distributor lanes and extra travel lanes on the main line of I-95 to help move traffic between U.S. 17 and congested Massaponax. Unlike HOT lanes, those lanes would be free and open to anyone.
Spotsylvania Supervisor Vince Onorato said he was disappointed that the Clark/Shirley plan didn't include HOT lanes to Massaponax.
But Clark Bottner, project director with Shirley Contracting Co., said extra lanes on the main part of the highway would serve the area better, offering free travel lanes to local residents who, say, just want to travel between Massaponax and U.S. 17.
"We looked at the local needs," Bottner said. "They aren't served well by HOT lanes."
The original Clark/Shirley proposal, submitted in September 2003, didn't include improvements to the Massaponax area.
Gary Groat, director of project development for Fluor, said his group's proposal must have inspired Clark/Shirley to expand its plans.
"I'd like to congratulate our competitors for adopting some of our ideas," he told supervisors. "We like to think imitation's the sincerest form of flattery."
Groat emphasized that his team has already been chosen to build HOT lanes on the Capital Beltway, implying that any connection to I-95/I-395 would be smoother under Fluor/Transurban leadership.
But the Clark/Shirley team countered that with experience of its own. Two of its team members--Cofiroute USA and Wilbur Smith and Associates--helped build and run the nation's other two HOT lane facilities in California and Minnesota.
Neither Virginia proposal uses any taxpayer dollars, relying instead on bonds, federal loans and private investments.
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 per 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 Gregory A. Whirley, the state's interim transportation commissioner .
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.
To view the plans or submit a comment, visit virginiadot.org/projects/ppta-I-95_I-395HOT
To reach EDIE GROSS: