Late last week, Virginia state transportation officials shut down contract and permit work on the U.S. 460 expansion project. The project has already spent $300 million of a budgeted $1.4 billion—without even breaking ground.
Jim Nolan and Michael Martz report on the unraveling saga of U.S. 460, a “$1.4 billion project, awarded in late 2012 to US 460 Mobility Partners in a public-private partnership deal pushed by the administration of then-Gov. Bob McDonnell.”
The project is intended to design and build a tolled, 55-mile highway parallel to the existing U.S. 460 between Suffolk and Petersburg in Virginia.
“Officials said Friday that the project can’t continue until it receives environmental approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It has said the plan would require mitigation of 500 acres of protected wetlands and suggested the state pursue alternatives in the corridor that have less impact.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation has spent about $30 million on the project, but the rest of the $300 million has gone to US 460 Mobility, which was charging $20 million a month as a “mobilization fee.”
FULL STORY: State suspends $1.4 billion U.S. 460 project
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