A team led by Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Fluor Daniel, Inc. will move forward on a proposal to add four 14-mile variable-priced toll lanes on Virginia's Interstate 495, also known as the Capital Beltway. The team will begin negotiations with the Virginia Dept. of Transportation on a comprehensive agreement for the approximately $693-million plan, which falls under the state's Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA).
 
The team, which includes HNTB, Lane Construction, Vollmer Associates and Greenhorne & O'Mara, submitted the lone $693-million proposal in 2002 (ENR 3/17/03, p. 17). Transportation Commissioner Philip Shucet reviewed the proposal and official announced the go-ahead Aug. 27 after a PPTA advisory panel gave its recommendation. "I asked Fluor to take the first shot at putting the schedule together," says Shucet. "Once we get a schedule, we'll paste it on the wall and that's the beat we'll all march to."

Fluor project manager Gary Grote estimates it will take about two months to work out the schedule up to project scope and financial plan. A design-build agreement and floating of toll revenue bonds would follow. Construction could begin in 18 months if all goes well.

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Fluor's team proposes to build two high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes in each direction from north of the Springfield Interchange to north of the Dulles Toll Road.  According to the proposal, HOT lanes would be free to carpoolers, buses and emergency vehicles; cars carrying only one or two people would pay a variable toll ranging from $1 to $4.80 to use the lanes.  Large trucks would not be allowed to use the HOT lanes. The team's proposal includes a design-build lump-sum bid and a four-year time frame. Only four right-of-way acquisitions would be required.
 
The $693-million proposal currently calls for 13% public funding, but Shucet expects the team to pursue options to reduce that share even more. "One of the first work products that I would expect the team to undertake would be a much more refined toll revenue feasibility study," he adds. The rest of the cost would be covered by a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan and toll bonds.
      
Progress also depends on a environmental feasibility study which is scheduled to finish this year. "A major milestone is the conclusion of the NEPA process," notes Grote. "That's separate from us. We expect the results in November. If it's for build, not no-build, we could go forward even faster."

Grote was encouraged by the results of VDOT public workshops in which more than half of written comments supported widening the beltway. Average daily traffic on the beltway is estimated to reach 283,990 next year.