In 1995, Virginia passed the Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA), which allows the Commonwealth to enter into agreements with private entities to construct, improve, maintain and operate transportation facilities.  Since then, Virginia’s Office of Transportation Public Private Partnerships (PPTA Office), in coordination with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), has considered several PPTA proposals for Hampton Roads projects, including:

MIDTOWN TUNNEL/MLK EXTENSION/DOWNTOWN TUNNEL
The project improvements call for the design and construction of a parallel Midtown Tunnel, extension of the MLK Freeway between I-264 and London Boulevard and improvements to the existing Midtown and Downtown tunnels.

Status of PPTA Project:
On May 20, 2010, VDOT determined that the project is technically and operationally feasible, and the VDOT Commissioner advanced the project to the second phase of the Interim Agreement (PPTA Phase 6).  It is anticipated that the financial feasibility and the terms of a Comprehensive Agreement will be determined by the second quarter of 2011.  Upon execution of the Comprehensive Agreement, it is estimated that construction will begin in 2011 and finish in 2015.

HAMPTON ROADS BRIDGE-TUNNEL
During the 2010 session, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation requiring VDOT to accept for review unsolicited proposals to add capacity to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel between Hampton and Norfolk (2010 Va. Acts ch. 126).

Status of PPTA Proposals:
•    VDOT's Commissioner formally accepted Hampton Roads Crossings’ unsolicited conceptual proposal on October 28, 2010.  This conceptual proposal is currently being evaluated by an Independent Review Panel (PPTA Phase 2).  The panel will make recommendations to the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) in 2011.

•    The PPTA Office, in coordination with VDOT, received a proposal on March 2, 2011 from Cintra Infraestructuras S.A.  The PPTA Office will review the proposal to determine conformance with the requirements of 2010 Va. Acts ch. 126 (PPTA Phase 1).  Prior to May 1, 2011, the PPTA Office will make a presentation to the CTB detailing their recommendation of whether to advance the proposal for consideration by an Independent Review Panel.

•    The PPTA Office, in coordination with VDOT, received a proposal on March 2, 2011 from Hampton Roads Mobility Group.  The PPTA Office will review the proposal to determine conformance with the requirements of 2010 Va. Acts ch. 126 (PPTA Phase 1).  Prior to May 1, 2011, the PPTA Office will make a presentation to the CTB detailing their recommendation of whether to advance the proposal for consideration by an Independent Review Panel.

US ROUTE 460

During fall 2010, VDOT actively sought out proposals to construct of approximately 55 miles of four-lane divided limited access highway between Petersburg and Suffolk Virginia. 

Status of PPTA Proposals:
On September 7, 2010, VDOT received three US Route 460 proposals from:

•    Cintra Infraestructuras S.A
•    460 Partners, Inc.
•    Multimodal Solutions LLC

On March 2, 2011, the VDOT Commissioner approved the advancement of three proposals.  In making this determination, the PPTA Office and VDOT staff have been tasked with addressing the comments and recommendations provided by the CTB and the Independent Review Panel.  The PPTA Office will issue the Request for Detailed Proposals on March 25, 2011, at which time all three proposers will be invited to submit detailed proposals (PPTA Phase 4).

To learn more about these projects and the PPTA process, please visit VDOT’s PPTA webpage at: http://www.virginiadot.org/business/ppta-default.asp