Deals

I-66 RFI gets 19 responses

The latest managed lanes P3 to emerge from Virginia lured marquee-name firms including Abertis, Meridiam and Transurban.

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Early-stage procurement for a toll road public-private partnership (PPP; P3) in Virginia has begun, drawing interest from Abertis, Meridiam Infrastructure and Transurban Group, to name a few.

Nineteen companies responded to a Request for Information (RFI) released in June for a P3 to improve Interstate 66 (I-66), said state transportation secretary Sean Connaughton. The deadline to respond to the RFI was Monday, November 25.

The RFI asked the private sector for input to improve a “highly congested” 25-mile corridor of I-66 from US Route 15 in Prince William County, Virginia to Interstate 495 (I-495) in Fairfax County, Virginia. 

The subsequent project is estimated to cost $2 billion, and could involve construction of general purpose lanes as well as managed lanes. The P3 might also include bus rapid transit, or BRT.

The Virginia Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships (OTP3) and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) are coordinating procurement for the project. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is expected to be released in early 2014.

The Department is exploring managed lanes to reduce traffic congestion on I-66, the lone highway from Washington, D.C, to Virginia. Managed lanes are high-occupancy toll (HOT) or high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes reserved for peak travel times.

Virginia, a state in the US South, opened the ‘495 Express Lanes,’ which added managed lanes to Interstate 495 (I-495) or the ‘Capital Beltway,’ in 2012. The state also broke ground on a HOV project for its Interstate 95 (I-95) named '95 Express Lanes'.

Toll road operator and RFI respondent Transurban is the private partner for both 495 Express Lanes and 95 Express Lanes.

In addition to Abertis, Meridiam and Transurban, Connaughton said Virginia also received feedback from:

-Acciona Concessions Canada;

-ACS Infrastructure Development and Dragados USA;

-AECOM Technology;

-Bechtel Infrastructure;

-Cintra;

-Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate, Shirley Contracting Company, Clark Construction Group and Dewberry Consultants;

-Fluor Enterprises;

-HOCHTIEF and Flatiron Construction;

-Kiewit Development;

-Lane Construction;

-Macquarie Group;

-OHL Infrastructure;

-Shikun & Binui;

-Skanska;

-SNC-Lavalin Group; and

-Vinci Concessions USA.