# FEIS Complete for I-64 Expansion (roughly PHF-RIC)



## Ryan (Dec 3, 2013)

http://www.wvec.com/my-city/hampton/I-64-Widening-project-from-Newport-News-to-Richmond-clears-major-hurdle-234284221.html



> RICHMOND- The Federal Highway Administration has given it's stamp of approval on the "Final Environmental Impact Statement" for a project that would widen I-64 from I-95 in Richmond to I-664 in Hampton, according to a statement released by Governor Bob McDonnell's office Tuesday. The project would widen the highway to at least 6 lanes for the entire 75 mile stretch.
> 
> In the statement, Governor McDonnell is quoted as saying The signing of the FEIS is a critical step toward advancing improvements to highly traveled and congested areas of I-64 for commuters and travelers alike.....The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) worked diligently with the public, localities and the FHWA to get environmental work to a pivotal stage. Most importantly, because of the historic transportation funding package passed this year with bipartisan support, we now have the funding available to move past studies and into actual construction. It has been a long time since Virginia had the resources necessary to begin projects of this size and scope. We are now on the way to beginning the process of widening I-64 between Richmond and Newport News, saving drivers time and money on one of the most highly-traveled roads in Virginia.
> 
> VDOT currently has budgeted $100 million to add a lane in each direction on the five mile stretch between Jefferson Avenue and Fort Eustis Boulevard in Newport News. The transportation agency will work with the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization and localities along I-64 to plan where the expanded lanes will be built. VDOT hopes to begin work on the Newport News stretch of the project next year.


Wonder how much Amtrak service from the 7 cities to Richmond you could get for $100 million (not to mention the cost of the *other* 70 miles).


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## Blackwolf (Dec 4, 2013)

Well, if $100 million is a rough cost for 5 miles of road construction, that means the project is around $1.4 billion.

Better question, what kind of rail service (Amtrak or otherwise) would Virginia residents get for $1.4 billion between Richmond and Norfolk? Better yet, for that much, how about the rest of the state?


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## Anderson (Dec 9, 2013)

(1) First of all, my understanding is that six lanes all the way to Richmond is likely a "generational" project. The main focus right now is on getting it expanded to Williamsburg. The estimate for that little gem is as follows:
-$100m Jefferson Ave to Ft. Eustis Blvd.
-$160m Ft. Eustis Blvd. to 199 East (i.e. Busch Gardens plus a mile)
-$150m to reconstruct the Ft. Eustis interchange (Ft. Eustis Blvd. between Jefferson Ave. and Ft. Eustis is built to something akin to Pennsylvania Turnpike standards)
-$90m 199 East to 199 West

That's $500 million right there, and it only gets you about 40% of the way. However, of the funding, 80% is expected to be federal ($400m), $60m is expected to be state, and $40m is expected from the regional taxes from the bill earlier this year. It would be a straight 80-10-10 split, but from what I can tell, part of the deal was that the first segment (Jefferson Ave-Ft. Eustis Blvd.) happens before funding is available from the HRTF funding basket.

Source: http://www.hrtpo.org/uploads/docs/HRTPO101713/101713TPO-A9-Hampton%20Roads%20Transportation%20Fund-Candidate%20Projects.pdf

(2) Going forward, the local folks are expecting that projects are going to be split something closer to 20% Federal and 80% state/local, with a further 80/20 split with local funding taking up the 80 (so...64-16-20 local-state-federal) for the Third Crossing. Other splits are on a project-by-project basis.

(3) This mess comes down to the fact that the HRTF funds are barred from being used for non-highway projects. Whether this will get seriously looked at in the future is a good question...I've already spoken with a few TPO folks on this front, and the read I have is that the TPO folks want to let the dust settle on that transportation bill for a year or two. It was recieved badly enough as it was, so nobody wants to risk reopening it at the moment.

(4) With all of that said, I ran the math on a much more modest cost estimate on the highway project, and from what I can tell you could probably enact the full 110 MPH proposals into Norfolk and Newport News, buy a full set of equipment for the trains, and run hourly service on both routes for less than the highway project.
-The wrinkle, of course, is that (A) The ROW on the Peninsula isn't big enough to accommodate the 3-4 tracks needed for that in many places (C&O never went over two tracks on most of the Peninsula Sub in my understanding); (B) CSX would have a fit with 110 MPH operation over the length of the run; and © Even if you dropped this in, it's not like there's a great transit system available on either side of the water down here yet...you'd probably need to drop $3-5 billion into getting a decent light rail network running in the area for such a system to really be of use.


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