Project Profiles

Project Sponsor / Borrower

Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)

Mode

Toll Highway

Description

The U.S. Route 460 Corridor Improvements Project consists of new construction of 55 miles of U.S. Route 460 between I-295 in Prince George County to U.S. Route 58 bypass in the City of Suffolk. The new construction will be located just south of the existing U.S. Route 460, which was constructed in the 1930s as a two-lane road and widened to four lanes in the 1950s. There are no medians, shoulders, or divided sections along most of its length, making the roadway functionally obsolete to handle current volumes of commercial and commuter traffic.

The new facility will be a tolled, limited-access, four-lane divided highway with seven interchanges that will provide an improved corridor, especially for freight traffic. The roadway will be a major component of the shipping corridor that leads to distribution facilities along the corridor and to the Port of Virginia. The new facility will also provide an improved route in the event of coastal evacuation of Virginia and North Carolina. The existing U.S. Route 460 will remain as a free alternative.

The project will be delivered through a design-build-finance agreement between VDOT, US 460 Mobility Partners, as well as the Route 460 Funding Corporation of Virginia, a 63-20 nonprofit corporation that will collect the tolls and manage the system for 40 years. VDOT will operate and maintain the facility.

Cost

$1,396 million (design, construction, toll collection set-up and administrative costs)

Funding Sources

VDOT public funding - $903 million

Virginia Port Authority public funding - $250 million

Tax-exempt toll revenue bonds (sold by Route 460 Funding Corporation of Virginia) - $243 million

Project Delivery / Contract Method

DBF (design-build-finance)

Private Partner

Design-builder: US 460 Mobility Partners

• Cintra Infraestructuras S.A.
• Ferrovial Agroman S.A.
• Janssen & Spaans Engineering Inc.
• A. Morton Thomas and Associates Inc.
• American Infrastructure

Project Advisors / Consultants

To Sponsor:

• KPMG – financial
• Allen & Overy – legal
• Halcrow – technical

To the Borrower

• Jones Day – legal
• Hunton & Williams – technical

Lenders

Bondholders

Duration / Status

The project reached commercial and financial close on December 20, 2012. Construction is expected to begin in 2014, and substantial completion, facility opening and tolling to begin in 2018.

Financial Status  

Financial close reached on December 20, 2012. VDOT submitted in August 2012 a letter of interest for a $422 million direct loan under MAP-21 FY2013 funding.

Innovations

• The nonprofit 460 Funding Corporation of Virginia was established pursuant to IRS Revenue Ruling 63-20 to issue tax-exempt toll revenue bonds for the project.

Related Links / Articles

VDOT PTTA U.S. Route 460 Project Website

VDOT Project Briefing – January 2013

Virginia Governor’s Office Press Release

Contacts