Virginia to Use FAST Act Funds to Improve I-95
Google Maps The FAST Act is starting to pay dividends around the nation.
Case in point: In Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced that the state will package $165 million from the federal government, $710 million in other public funding and $565 million in private investment to relieve congestion on Interstate 95 in the Fredericksburg area.
The $1.4 billion project, termed the Atlantic Gateway, will extend I-95’s express lanes, which opened in December 2014, for 10 miles southbound and 7 miles northbound, as well as help pay for the construction of a new bridge next to the current span over the Rappahannock River just north of state Route 3.
Fourteen new rail miles, expanded bus service, additional commuter parking, and pavement to be used for autonomous vehicle infrastructure also are included in the project.
“This grant will allow the commonwealth to transform the 95 corridor into a true multimodal corridor that better manages traffic and increases travel choices for people and goods,” Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne said in a statement.
The Virginia Trucking Association sent a letter of support for the grant to U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
“These improvements to the corridor will accelerate key freight movements along the East Coast and strengthen commercial traffic moving between East Coast ports and the Midwest,” VTA President Dale Bennett wrote. “From Maine to Florida, the I-95 corridor is the backbone of the East Coast transportation network and serves as the economic conduit for the entire U.S. Eastern Seaboard and a third of the U.S. population. It provides a critical link among major East Coast seaports, the largest population centers in the U.S., and key importers and exporters throughout North America.
"These road and rail corridors are major chokepoints for nationwide commerce, nationwide mobility and nationwide economic opportunity. The Atlantic Gateway will unlock the worst of these chokepoints.”
Bennett told Transport Topics that the project will create additional truck parking at the Ladysmith rest area along the I-95 corridor.
