US 460 (Petersburg, VA to Suffolk, VA)

[cpzilliacus]

GoDanRiver.com: Virginia looks to end contract to build new toll road

After already spending more than $280 million on the project, the Virginia Department of Transportation gave notice Wednesday that it plans to terminate its contract to build a new toll road that would parallel the existing U.S. 460 from Suffolk to Petersburg.

Work on the road was halted by Gov. Terry McAuliffe's administration before construction ever started last spring because of concerns it wouldn't receive the necessary permits from the Army Corps of Engineers. The corps has said the 55-mile highway's construction would affect hundreds of acres of wetland.

The road was conceived by former Gov. Bob McDonnell's administration as a secondary hurricane evacuation route for Hampton Roads and as a way to alleviate congestion on Interstate 64 by providing truck drivers with an alternate route to and from the state's port terminals.

[Zeffy]

I don't see why DOTs preemptively spend millions of dollars on a project without first making sure it's actually something they can do. Also, I'm not too familiar with Petersburg and the Chesapeake area, but is US 460 that bad that they needed to build a tolled roadway next to it?

[ARMOURERERIC]

US 460 was THAT BAD 25 years ago, sadly, upgrading VA 10 may have been a better option.

[74/171FAN]

I don't see why DOTs preemptively spend millions of dollars on a project without first making sure it's actually something they can do. Also, I'm not too familiar with Petersburg and the Chesapeake area, but is US 460 that bad that they needed to build a tolled roadway next to it?

Not really, it is just a lot of truck traffic.  The main problem is that there is no median despite being widened to 4 lanes back in the 1950s.  Really a median is the only thing needed just to make the road a safer drive.

[cpzilliacus]

Network redundancy from Hampton Roads to I-95 was (and is) the compelling reason for a limited-access, high-speed east-west alternative to I-64. 

Was the U.S. 460 project the right answer? I cannot say.   The Corps of Engineers apparently considered the wetlands impact of the 460 project to be excessive, and they alone issue the Section 404 (of the Clean Water Act) permits.

Upgrading U.S. 58 (beyond the reasonably high-speed arterial road in place now) or Va. 10 (though would that mean more speed trap revenue for Hopewell?) would have had their own merits.  Which would have provided the most transportation benefit for the least environmental impact and expense?

[Henry]

Network redundancy from Hampton Roads to I-95 was (and is) the compelling reason for a limited-access, high-speed east-west alternative to I-64. 

Was the U.S. 460 project the right answer? I cannot say.   The Corps of Engineers apparently considered the wetlands impact of the 460 project to be excessive, and they alone issue the Section 404 (of the Clean Water Act) permits.

Upgrading U.S. 58 (beyond the reasonably high-speed arterial road in place now) or Va. 10 (though would that mean more speed trap revenue for Hopewell?) would have had their own merits.  Which would have provided the most transportation benefit for the least environmental impact and expense?

A US 58 upgrade would be the better way to go, as that would provide a nonstop shortcut from I-85 to Hampton Roads.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Just as I was moving to Newport News in 1991, I recall as sales tax increase that was dedicated to US 58 upgrades statewide.  Is this tax still in effect?  has it been diverted to unintended accounts?  Could that be used for a 58 additional upgrade?

[wdcrft63]

Larger considerations set aside, I have to believe that 460 is not adequate or safe between I-295 and the start of the project at Zuni. A median and bypasses of congested areas are needed.

[skluth]

I don't see why DOTs preemptively spend millions of dollars on a project without first making sure it's actually something they can do. Also, I'm not too familiar with Petersburg and the Chesapeake area, but is US 460 that bad that they needed to build a tolled roadway next to it?

IMO, adding an extra lane to 64 between Tidewater and Richmond would be more effective as would converting US 58 to a freeway from 95 to Suffolk. Other than the first ten miles or so west of 13 (about to Zuni), 460 is fine although a true median would be better. A limited access highway is probably needed from Zuni to 13. The 460 toll project was a pet project of the last governor who I believe is now in prison.

[cpzilliacus]

Virginian-Pilot editorial: Forget 460 - Improve U.S. 58 instead

The justification for building an expensive, interstate-level U.S. 460 rested on the ideas that a new road would help more people escape a major hurricane and make it easier to move goods to and from the west.

Neither of those conditions will be satisfied now that the state has formally canceled the $1.4 billion plan to build a toll road between Suffolk and Petersburg.

The 55-mile original idea - which former Gov. Bob McDonnell and other administration officials pushed relentlessly despite warnings that it couldn't win environmental approval - has already cost the state more than $250 million without laying a single mile of new asphalt.

The state now is attempting to make something of those millions as part of a deal to scale back the original U.S. 460 project to a 17-mile road between Suffolk and Zuni.

Even so, the initial plans for the project - as well as the millions wasted - have become another object lesson in the perils of public-private partnerships when the state doesn't do its homework.

[Mapmikey]

Washington Post: Va. spends $260 million on unbuilt road, says it could've been worse

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/va-spends-260-million-on-unbuilt-road-but-says-it-could-have-been-worse/2015/07/02/638d9b62-20d2-11e5-aeb9-a411a84c9d55_story.html

Negotiated settlement resulted in the contractor returning $46M to Virginia, bringing the final tally spent for zero amount of road to $260M.

Evidently the contract still called for Virginia to owe another $100M despite no road being forthcoming...

Mike

[cpzilliacus]

This should outrage every taxpaying resident of the Commonwealth.  The Bob McDonnell Administration was far too infatuated with PPTA projects, even though this project DID and DOES have some merit.

SGP561

[NJRoadfan]

So.... how much of that cool $260 million land up in the former governor's pockets and of his campaign contributors?

[Rothman]

In my experience, NYSDOT takes 9-digit financial numbers incredibly seriously.  I brought this situation up in Virginia today and said that NYSDOT should try the "it could have been worse" excuse in case it ever blows it that badly.  Laughter all around.

What'll be interesting is if the administration remains unscathed.  It's incredible to me that the public will swallow losses of hundreds of millions but if you hear about a government agency spending five-digits on a party, all Hell breaks loose.

[Mapmikey]

What'll be interesting is if the administration remains unscathed.  It's incredible to me that the public will swallow losses of hundreds of millions but if you hear about a government agency spending five-digits on a party, all Hell breaks loose.

With Virginia's system of governance limited to a single 4-year term for the governor, by the time these sorts of things get sorted out the responsible administration is usually already out of power.  The former governor (Bob McDonnell) is headed to jail for corruption stuff unrelated to this particular boondoggle.  The transportation secretary behind this mess always has no comment whenever some new tidbit about this comes out.

Virginia's PPTA law is being revised to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.

Mike

[cpzilliacus]

What'll be interesting is if the administration remains unscathed.  It's incredible to me that the public will swallow losses of hundreds of millions but if you hear about a government agency spending five-digits on a party, all Hell breaks loose.

Unfortunately, there has been a tradition in Virginia that small numbers are taken very seriously, but large numbers like the ones associated with this project are not.

[Rothman]

What'll be interesting is if the administration remains unscathed.  It's incredible to me that the public will swallow losses of hundreds of millions but if you hear about a government agency spending five-digits on a party, all Hell breaks loose.

Right.  I was saying that befuddling sentiment is not unique to Virginia, but is prevalent in American society as a whole. 

[Henry]

So if there are no improvements coming to US 460, why spend any money on it at all? It could've been part of a longer I-64 alternative (I-62, perhaps?) that would allow a complete bypass of Richmond to the south.

[froggie]

So if there are no improvements coming to US 460, why spend any money on it at all?

Because A) there is still a need for improvements, even if what was previously proposed was scuttled, and B) because VDOT was contractually obligated to pay the PPP contractor for "mobilization" costs even though they weren't doing any work due to the lack of wetlands permits.  This is where the vast bulk of the $260 million spent went.

It could've been part of a longer I-64 alternative (I-62, perhaps?) that would allow a complete bypass of Richmond to the south.

This is far beyond the scope of the project that was planned.

[74/171FAN]

Update on the current plan:  The feds have given it preliminary approval, but Windsor and Isle of Wight County do not support it for economic/environmental reasons.  The Southern Environmental Law Center still believes that the wetland impact of 35 acres is too high.  (The article says the toll road plan under McDonnell was for over 600, I guess you cannot please environmental lobbyists.)

[LM117]

Windsor needs to have a seat. The last time I was on US-460 east of Petersburg was when I went to the Eastern Shore of VA in April 2010 when I lived in Farmville, which is right off of US-460. Based on what I saw when I came through Windsor, their economy was already crap. They can't lose what they didn't have to start with. US-460 needs upgraded badly.

[froggie]

US 460 needs upgrading, yes.  But the dispute is the level of upgrading needed, which conversely translates into how much money you're willing to spend on a corridor that A) doesn't see all that much traffic in the grand scheme of things (especially compared to I-64 east of Richmond or even US 58), and B) doesn't have much of a population or economy base to capitalize on the improvement.

[LM117]

US 460 needs upgrading, yes.  But the dispute is the level of upgrading needed, which conversely translates into how much money you're willing to spend on a corridor that A) doesn't see all that much traffic in the grand scheme of things (especially compared to I-64 east of Richmond or even US 58), and B) doesn't have much of a population or economy base to capitalize on the improvement.

At the very least, VDOT could add a median and a center turn lane where needed, but I agree that I-64 would be a better investment compared to US-460.

[cpzilliacus]

US 460 needs upgrading, yes.  But the dispute is the level of upgrading needed, which conversely translates into how much money you're willing to spend on a corridor that A) doesn't see all that much traffic in the grand scheme of things (especially compared to I-64 east of Richmond or even US 58), and B) doesn't have much of a population or economy base to capitalize on the improvement.

At the very least, VDOT could add a median and a center turn lane where needed, but I agree that I-64 would be a better investment compared to US-460.

My problem with only improving I-64 is simple - there are intermodal transportation (seaports) and military assets in Hampton Roads that are national in importance, and as I suggested upthread, network redundancy is a good thing, and improving I-64 alone does not provide much of that (even if capacity at the HRBT is dramatically increased by adding two new tubes or by other means).

Improving U.S. 460 (or perhaps U.S. 58) to a freeway-type road does improve that redundancy. 

[noelbotevera]

I'm gonna check out US 460 in Petersburg when I go to the Richmond area tomorrow. I'll see if traffic can't be that bad.