US 460 Mobility Partners, the joint venture between Ferrovial Agroman and American Infrastructure, has been selected to finance, design and build a $1.396 billion highway project in Virginia, US.
The project involves construction of a 55-mile, four-lane stretch of Route 460 in south-eastern Virginia. The new stretch of the road will run parallel to the existing Route 460 and will connect Suffolk to Petersburg at I-295. The stretch will feature interchanges at routes 156, 625, 602, 40, 620, 616 and 258.
US 460 Mobility Partners will develop the project at a fixed cost by a fixed date. The comprehensive agreement and financial close for the project is expected to be signed in December 2012. The design work is expected to begin in 2013 and the construction work is scheduled to commence in 2014.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), in coordination with the Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships, is procuring the project under Virginia’s Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA), which allows the Commonwealth to partner with the private sector to finance, design and build transportation improvements.
The state transportation department will oversee the work performed by the private-sector team during construction. It will operate and maintain the facility after the project is completed. VDOT will also own the facility and all potential benefits of the project, as well as, set the initial toll rates.
According to VDOT, the project will accommodate greater freight traffic from the Port of Virginia, benefiting the entire Commonwealth and provide a safer route for heavy truck traffic and the region’s military.