TRIP report: ‘The Top 50 Surface Transportation Projects to Support Economic Growth in Virginia’

LaHood, Biden talk infrastructure in Philadelphia

Tina Grady Barbaccia

In order to adequately support Virginia’s existing industries and provide for additional economic growth, the state will need to make numerous improvements to its surface transportation system. This is according to a new report released Feb. 8 by TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based national transportation research organization.

TRIP’s report, “The Top 50 Surface Transportation Projects to Support Economic Growth in Virginia,” identifies and ranks the projects needed to provide Virginia with a transportation system that can support the increased movement of people, goods and resources throughout the state.

The most needed surface transportation improvements in Virginia include 36 projects to build, expand or modernize highways, six projects to improve public transit and eight projects to improve the state’s rail system.

These improvements would enhance economic development opportunities throughout the state by increasing mobility and freight movement, easing congestion, and making Virginia an attractive place to live, visit, and do business, according to TRIP.

According to the TRIP report, the most needed projects for the state’s economic growth are as follows:

Rank	Top Ten Projects for Virginia’s Economic Growth
1	Widening I-95 between Washington, D.C., and Richmond
2	Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion
3	Widening I-64 from New Kent to Hampton to six lanes
4	Construction of HOT lanes and transit improvement son I-95/I-395 in Northern Virginia
5	Hampton Roads Third Crossing/Patriot’s Crossing
6	Widening I-64 in the City of Chesapeake and replacing High Rise Bridge
7	Widening I-66 in Prince William County, Fairfax, and Vienna
8	Adding two lanes to multiple sections of I-81
9	Extending Metrorail from Fairfax County to Dulles Airport and Beyond to Ashburn
10	Widening portions of Route 29 and adding two lanes to the Eastern Bypass in Warrenton

For full list of needed projects, descriptions, and their impact on economic development go to the appendix of the report at http://www.tripnet.org/state/VA/VA_Top_50_Projects_Appendix.pdf.

“The TRIP report provides a blueprint for the commonwealth’s economic future. Making needed improvements to Virginia’s surface transportation system will support future economic growth and competitiveness and help ensure that Virginia remains an attractive place to live, visit, work and do business,” said Whittington Clement, chairman of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and former Virginia Secretary of Transportation.

Enhancing critical segments of Virginia’s surface transportation system will boost the state’s economy in the short-term by creating jobs in construction and related fields. In the long term these improvements will enhance economic competitiveness by reducing travel delays and transportation costs, improving access and mobility, improving safety, and stimulating sustained job growth, improving the quality of life for the state’s residents and visitors.

Sustaining Virginia’s long-term economic growth and maintaining the state’s high quality of life will require increased investment in expanding the capacity of the state’s surface transportation system, which will enhance business productivity and support short- and long-term job creation in the state.