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Federal stimulus money could include a State Route 3 widening project already slated for the road. |
BY KELLY HANNON
Federal stimulus money will pay to widen State Route 3 in Spotsylvania County, revitalizing a project that was stalled by state budget cuts.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board voted yesterday to approve the first round of projects using Virginia's $694.5 million share of federal stimulus money for highways.
The board approved a $110 million list of paving work, $96 million for Base Realignment and Closure Commission-related road projects, $66 million in bridge improvements, $20.8 million in rail projects and $34.2 million in design-build contracts. Most of the design-build money, $25.2 million, will go toward widening Route 3 from four to six lanes between Chewning Lane/Rutherford Drive and Gordon Road.
The Route 3 widening was the most expensive project approved yesterday in the Fredericksburg area.
Today, Route 3 narrows from six to four lanes at Chewning and Rutherford, only to expand to six lanes farther west at Gordon Road, just before the Harrison Crossing shopping center.
The project will make Route 3 six lanes from I-95 almost as far west as Riverbend High School and Spotswood Furnace Road.
Stafford Supervisor Cord Sterling, a CTB member, said, "This allocation will enable it to join the Falmouth intersection in moving forward and providing real congestion relief in the Fredericksburg region."
Sterling said he'll continue to work to find funding for other projects in need of money in the Fredericksburg area, including U.S. 17 widening in Stafford, the Spotsylvania Courthouse Bypass and several new interchanges along I-95.
One of the challenges of funding large-scale projects with federal stimulus money is the requirement that the project be completed within three years, Sterling said.
Mary Lee Carter of Spotsylvania, also a member of the CTB, was unable to attend the meeting but sent a statement to The Free Lance-Star through the Virginia Department of Transportation:
"The project will not only serve Spotsylvania and the surrounding localities, it also provides access to Interstate 95 for citizens in the Culpeper and Orange County areas. It was a lot of work, but we will see the fruits of the labor born by the County and VDOT in the near future," Carter said.
Other local projects approved yesterday include $13 million for paving on I-95 in Stafford and Spotsylvania, and $4 million for paving along U.S. 15 and U.S. 29 in the Culpeper area.
Three bridges on secondary roads in Stafford and Caroline counties will receive new superstructures.
Large BRAC-related road projects for Fort Lee in Richmond, Fort Belvoir in Northern Virginia and Fort Eustis in Hampton Roads were approved, but projects at Marine Corps Base Quantico were not.
Because of BRAC, the base expects to have an additional 2,658 people on base every day by the end of 2011.
The Quantico road projects are still under review, said Mal Kerley, VDOT's chief engineer.
VDOT hopes to add extra paving projects to the $110 million package if bids come in lower than expected, Kerley said. If that happens, VDOT could possibly pave U.S. 1, U.S. 17 and Route 3 in the Fredericksburg area.
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com
