Financial Deal for HOT Lanes

Here's a great article, from Toll Road News, about the financing for those new HOT lanes. We realize the story is a couple of weeks old, but we just came across it and though our Loudoun County Traffic readers would find it interesting.

According to the story, Virginia DOT, Transurban and Fluor have signed the contracts and gone to financial close for the construction of four toll lanes plus direct connector ramps on 14 miles of the Capital Beltway (I-495) in Northern Virginia between the Springfield interchange and just short of the Maryland line at the Potomac River.

The $1.52 billion project involves a fixed price design-build contract with Fluor for completion by spring 2013 and a toll concession with Capital Beltway Express LLC (Transurban 90%, Fluor 10%) which gives them responsibility and reward of the toll enterprise over 75 years from opening. They have to make money providing a superior service in their central four lanes to the service in eight free lanes straddling them on either side of what becomes a 12 lane highway.

Read the complete article here and visit the VDOT HOT Lane Web page or Virginia Hot Lanes for more information.

According to Virginia Hot Lanes, the projects on the Capital Beltway and I-95/395 will expand the region's most heavily traveled roadways and provide a new choice for motorists when they need a faster, more reliable trip. Together, the projects will create a 70-mile, congestion-free network for buses and carpools — providing travelers new opportunities and incentives to leave their cars at home.