Expressway Project Gets $2 Million
State to partner with private sector in preliminary project development activities

   Alternative alignments for the Coalfields Expressway to maximize coal recovery during construction will be examined in more depth thanks to a $2 million grant announced for the expressway project last Wednesday.
   Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine announced the grant in Richmond, just shortly after the Commonwealth Transportation Board concluded a workshop meeting in Abingdon which focused on the expressway and other projects (see related story, this issue).
   The grant comes from the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund and will be used by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and its private sector partners Pioneer Group, Inc. and Alpha Natural Resources, LLC, a subsidiary of Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., to initiate preliminary project development activities on the Coalfields Expressway and U.S. Route 460 Connector projects. 
The proposed Coalfields Expressway is a new four-lane highway stretching 51 miles from The Virginia-West Virginia state line in Buchanan County, near Paynesville, WV, through Dickenson County and into Pound in Wise County. It will link with the West Virginia Coalfields Expressway near Paynesville, WV. The Route 460 Connector will link the Coalfields Expressway to Kentucky. 
“This grant supports our continued use of design-build contracting techniques and other innovative tools to deliver critical transportation projects,” said Kaine. “Partnership with the private sector is essential to the success of this approach, and I am pleased we have identified strong partners such as Pioneer and Alpha.”
    “This effort will continue to build on our experience from the construction of the King Coal Highway in West Virginia.” said Michael J. Quillen, president and CEO of Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
    “We’re pleased to be working on this project, which holds so much promise for the future of this region,” said Clyde Stacy, of the Pioneer Group, Inc.
    The grant will be used to examine alternative alignments for the road which may reduce project costs by maximizing the recovery of coal reserves during construction. The award will advance engineering activities by Pioneer and Alpha under the Public-Private Transportation Act agreement reached in January. 
“Leveraging the coal resources of this region is the only viable financing strategy for the Coalfields Expressway and Connector,” said Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer. 
The Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund was established by the Virginia General Assembly in 2005 to provide grants and other financial incentives to advance design-build and other innovative contracting and financing methods, with particular emphasis on economic development projects.

Expressway will Likely See Construction Cost Reduction

   With plans to simultaneously recover coal while building the proposed Coalfields Expressway, significant reductions in construction costs for the $2.3 billion project will likely be realized.
    That's the word members of the Commonwealth Transportation Board received during a workshop meeting in Abingdon last Wednesday.
    Mal Kerley, VDOT chief engineer, gave board members, Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer and VDOT Acting Commissioner Gregory Whirley an overview of the expressway project which will span some 51 miles from the Virginia-West Virginia state line in Buchanan County, near Paynesville, WV, through Dickenson County and into Pound in Wise County.
    Homer noted the project is one with "tremendous potential" for the region.
    "I'm from northern Virginia and there we're selling congestion," he said. "In Southwest Virginia, we're selling coal. I think the elements are there to make it work. It's an important project . . . a groundbreaking project in so many ways."
     He announced at the conclusion of the presentation on the expressway that the governor would be announcing a $2 million grant for the project from the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund (see related story) later that same day.

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