WASHINGTON — New toll lanes planned for Interstate 66 in Virginia may be built and operated as a public-private partnership after all, despite the commonwealth’s earlier move to float an option of public financing.
At a Commonwealth Transportation Board meeting Wednesday, Virginia Department of Transportation Commissioner Charles Kilpatrick said he planned to sign shortly an interim finding that a public-private partnership may be in the public interest.
That will trigger a series of meetings and presentations leading up to a key decision in December comparing the five groups interested in the so-called “P3” to design, build and operate the lanes against a potentially publicly financed proposal.
The final contract is now expected to be awarded in September 2016.
Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne says a publicly financed option will remain on the table until a contract is signed. He adds that the potential private partners will likely get state money to help put together their proposals.
A preferred alternative for the actual right of way needed for construction of the new toll lanes and regular lanes on I-66 between the Beltway and Haymarket is expected to be approved by the board in September.
Layne and Kilpatrick say the five teams that met with the state about a preliminary proposal all wanted assurances about other parts of the transportation system, including whether the Orange Line or VRE might be extended in the near future. The state finds an Orange Line extension unlikely in the next 10 years.
The process of adding tolls inside the Beltway is moving ahead separately.
A number of business groups, including the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the announcement that the public-private partnership would remain under consideration. Layne had said in May that the state may get a better deal through public financing.
