Fredericksburg City Council gets progress report on roads, signs and pending contracts.

Date published: 8/9/2006

By EMILY BATTLE

The Silver Cos. is moving forward with roads, signs and agreements to bring more attractions to the Fredericksburg side of Celebrate Virginia, a planned 544-acre tourism and entertainment complex between Fall Hill Avenue and the Rappahannock River.

It's the southern component of a development that also includes housing and golf courses across the river in Stafford County.

Representatives from the Silver Cos. briefed Fredericksburg City Council members last night on their work. The meeting comes nearly one year after the council approved a slate of agreements with Celebrate Virginia that include key guarantees on how the development in Fredericksburg will take shape, and on what Silver will contribute to the roads and other public infrastructure around it.

A major part of that agreement states that Silver will contribute $1 million toward widening the portion of Fall Hill Avenue that lines Celebrate Virginia, if the city gets a contractor lined up to proceed with it by July 31, 2010.

The city has planned for that project to be constructed using a state law that allows private consortiums to partner with local governments to build roads.

Council members adopted a set of guidelines for accepting proposals under the terms of that law late last year, and Jud Honaker, Silver's president of commercial division, indicated that a consortium that includes Lynchburg-based English Construction Co. should be ready to submit a proposal soon.

Honaker mentioned that discussion is going on to determine if MediCorp Health System, the owner of Mary Washington Hospital, would contribute to some of the cost of the road.

Honaker also said Silver representatives are still talking with state transportation officials about the possibility of building an exit into Celebrate Virginia off southbound Interstate 95 through the visitors center near Fall Hill Avenue. He said they've been telling state officials that such an exit would help relieve congestion on State Route 3, but nothing is moving fast.

"At one point, I would have thought things were going pretty good, but they seem to have bogged down in the bureaucracy," Honaker said.

Chris Hornung, a vice president with the Silver Cos., told council members the developer expects to make announcements soon on new attractions coming to Celebrate Virginia.

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Date published: 8/9/2006

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