Published: April 02, 2008 09:25 pm      

FHA puts four-lane on the fast track

GRUNDY, Va. — In a move that could expedite construction on the Coalfields Expressway in Southwest Virginia, the Federal Highway Administration has agreed to reinstate a special experimental project status for the future four-lane corridor.

The special project status was restored for the project at the request of U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. Boucher said the Coalfields Expressway suffered a significant setback in June 2005 when the Federal Highway Administration rescinded its earlier approval of the special experimental project status, which allowed the use of “innovative contracting methods” aimed at moving the project forward at a quicker pace and at a reduced cost.

“With special federal experimental project status restored, our prospects for construction of the road have never been better,” Boucher said in a press release. “The coal companies will build it quicker, at half the cost with a better design and higher speed limit than if the road were built by VDOT alone.”

Boucher is expected to join Kaine Friday for a press conference at the Virginia Highlands Airport in Abingdon to discuss the status of the Coalfields Expressway, according to the governor’s press office. Courtney Lamie, a spokeswoman for Boucher, said another announcement regarding the Coalfields Expressway is expected to be made at Friday’s press conference.

The Coalfields Expressway is proposed to extend 51 miles through Buchanan, Dickenson and Wise counties. The West Virginia segment of the roadway will extend another 55 miles through McDowell, Wyoming and Raleigh counties.

“When constructed, the highway, from Pound through Dickenson and Buchanan counties to the West Virginia line, will provide opportunities for economic growth and expansion that are currently not available due to the lack of a major highway traversing the region,” Boucher said. “The potential economic benefits of the road to Southwest Virginia cannot be overstated, and the project enjoys the overwhelming support of our citizens.”

Boucher said the Federal Highway Administration had initially provided the special status designation to the project in May 2001. Boucher said the designation allowed VDOT to use a design-build contracting method for the expressway rather than the traditional competitive bidding process that requires the state to procure bids and award contracts at each stage of the project development. The special status designation was revoked in June 2005, which Boucher said eliminated the ability to apply federal funding to the project unless traditional contracting methods were used to design and build the road.

Boucher said “innovative thinkers” began to develop after the special projects designation was lost.

“Recognizing that the road would be far too costly to construct using traditional contracting methods, Alpha Natural Resources and Pioneer Coal Company, among Virginia's leading coal producers, in 2005 began to explore the potential for entering into an agreement with VDOT to develop a ‘coal synergy’ concept for construction of the road,” Boucher said in the press release. “Virginia has abundant coal reserves, and both Alpha and Pioneer, which control the rights to the reserves along the route of the road, expressed a strong interest in partnering with the state to begin construction of the Coalfields Expressway as part of their mining operations. The planned recovery of coal reserves in areas adjacent to the CFX corridor would provide a means of constructing the road bed while coal mining occurs at a far lower cost and more quickly than if the construction were done independent of the coal recovery operations.”

Boucher said the federal decision to restore the special projects status recognizes that the two private coal companies can “dramatically reduce road building costs” by preparing the roadbed while coal is extracted.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com