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Construction is under way at the new Virginia Welcome Center on Interstate 95 south in Fredericksburg.
James Johnson Jr. works on the masonry of the new Virginia Welcome Center on Interstate 95 south in Fredericksburg. The expected opening is in July. The ramp for the center is also proposed as an entrance to Celebrate Virginia.
Welders attach metal roofing materials to the frame of the new Virginia Welcome Center along Interstate 95 south. There is a proposal to build an access road to Celebrate Virginia that would run behind the Welcome Center. |
By DAN TELVOCK
If a developer is going to bid on a public-private project to build a toll road bypassing State Route 3, there needs to be confidence that enough motorists will pay to use it.
The Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization wants to supply that confidence.
FAMPO decided last night to seek requests for proposals to begin the federally required Interchange Justification Report. The study is for an Interstate 95 interchange that would provide additional access to Celebrate Virginia South. Part of this plan is to connect the interchange to a privately built toll road bypassing clogged State Route 3.
FAMPO agreed last night to include in the study a traffic forecast for the toll road portion of the project.
Lloyd Robinson, FAMPO's director of transportation planning, said proving to the private sector that the toll road would attract vehicles gives the needed confidence for developers to bid. He also said it provides the public confidence in the process.
According to a resolution FAMPO passed last month, the toll road is described as "running northeasterly from a point east of the Chancellorsville battlefield, in an arc, above the Rappahannock River flood plain and connecting with I-95, in the vicinity of the rest area just south of the Rappahannock River."
The Virginia Department of Transportation and Silver Cos., which is developing the Celebrate Virginia tourism and retail complex near I-95 south in Fredericksburg and along the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, agreed to pay $200,000 each for the cost of the study.
The project isn't included in the state's six-year road plan, though.
"There's a lot of work that needs to be done before this becomes a capital project and is entered into the state's six-year plan," Robinson said prior to last night's meeting.
Issuing the request for proposals for the study and executing a contract could take up to three months.
Before a public-private proposal can be sought for this project, a public entity that could engage in public-private partnerships must be identified. A resolution to make the George Washington Regional Commission the public entity was tabled for a month.
Fredericksburg City Manager Philip Rodenberg said he was concerned the resolution would allow GWRC to move forward on PPTA proposals without notifying the local government where the projects is being built.
"That's not the intent, but I understand what you're saying," Robinson said.
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
