RELEASE: CONTACT:

IMMEDIATE Tamara Neale 804-786-6458 Tamara.Neale@VDOT.Virginia.gov

CO-0449 Nov. 1, 2004

VDOT SEEKS PRIVATE SECTOR INTEREST ON BUILDING ROAD PROJECTS IN HAMPTON ROADS AND NORTHERN VIRGINIA REGIONS

RICHMOND – The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is asking private firms if they are interested in the possibility of entering into a public-private partnership to improve the Midtown Tunnel in the Hampton Roads region and to build the Western Transportation Corridor in the Northern Virginia region.

VDOT is seeking private-sector interest on the projects by posting a “Request for Information” on the agency’s Web site and in various publications.

VDOT will consider responses to the “Request for Information,” and determine whether to solicit conceptual proposals under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA). The PPTA is the legislative framework that allows VDOT to enter into agreements authorizing private entities to acquire, build and maintain or operate transportation facilities.

Neither of these projects can be built unless they are part of a federally approved environmental study under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).

Responses to the “Request for Information” are due Jan. 14, 2005.

Projects:
Midtown Tunnel
VDOT is seeking private-sector interest to build a new tunnel to ensure a continuous, four-lane crossing linking Route 58 between Portsmouth and Norfolk.

Western Transportation Corridor
VDOT is seeking private-sector interest to build a new road that would extend generally from I-95 in Stafford County north to Route 7 in Loudoun County.

For more information:
The “Request for Information” on both projects is posted on http://www.virginiadot.org/business/rfi.asp