Route 288 to be Completed Faster, Cheaper & Toll-Free

The Virginia Department of Transportation has reached a $236 million agreement with a private company that will allow the state to complete the final stretch of Route 288 faster, cheaper and without any tolls.

The public-private partnership between VDOT and APAC-Virginia Inc. of Danville is expected to save the state $47 million and cut the project time for the 17.5-mile stretch by seven months.

The stretch extends from Powhite Parkway to Interstate 64 and should be completed by late 2003. It would have cost $283 million for VDOT to manage the project.

The project includes building new segments of Route 288 in Powhatan and Goochland counties and fully developing portions of Route 288 in Chesterfield, as well as completing the James River Bridge.

The agreement was reached under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995, which is designed to accelerate transportation projects by letting the private sector finance and build roads.

VDOT received three unsolicited proposals from private partnerships to complete the project and finalized negotiations with APAC-Virginia in early December 2000.

The agreement requires APAC-Virginia to join with CH2M Hill of Greenwood Village, Colorado, and Koch Performance Roads of Wichita, Kansas, to design and build the remainder of the four-lane roadway, and to maintain the 17.5-mile stretch for 20 years.

Construction of Route 288 in Powhatan and Goochland counties is scheduled to begin in 2001.

The progress of the project can be followed on the VDOT web site at: http://www.vdot.state.va.us/proj/rich/288_updates.html