Highway Construction: Moving Targets

Region's agencies struggle with the disparity between demand and dollars

by Jim Parsons

The region's transportation agencies are already building some of the most ambitious projects in years, but many others are being dropped due to small budgets.

The Interstate Highway System's 50th anniversary party is in full swing, but some Mid-Atlantic transportation officials probably aren't celebrating.

interstate regional - Wilson bridge. CAP: The joint venture of American Bridge/Edward Kraemer and Sons and Granite/Corman are managing construction on the $2.4 billion Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, whose project area goes through a seven and a half-mile corridor covering Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., over the Potomac River.

Even with last year's mammoth federal highway spending bill, the region's DOTs largely find themselves with far more needs than self-generated resources to address them. And in some areas, the gap has reached crisis proportions.

In Delaware, for example, a substantial shortfall in the state's Transportation Trust Fund has forced DelDOT to cut approximately $287 million in FY 06 construction. Major projects such as improving Interstate 95's State Route 896 and U.S. Highway 202 interchanges, as well as the Tyler McConnell Bridge, have been shelved so that the agency can concentrate on maintenance.

Virginia's well-publicized budget stalemate has likewise limited VDOT's major projects. Among those going forward are the I-95/495 Mixing Bowl, I-66 widening and the I-64 Coliseum Central Project in Hampton, as well as the$2.4 billion Woodrow Wilson Bridge in the D.C.-area, with construction management by a joint venture of American Bridge/Edward Kraemer and Sons and Granite/Corman. The agency has already trimmed $800 million from its $7 billion long-term construction program and could face more cuts if the standoff lasts into the summer.

Captive programs While politics gets some of the blame in both states, DelDOT spokesperson Michael Williams said that rising right-of-way, fuel and material costs have simply made a bad situation worse.

"Our state assembly is unwilling to increase revenue for the trust fund in >> an election year, so there's no chance of restoring projects until FY 08," he added. "Even then, we'll only be able to do one major project one at a time."

And VDOT spokesperson Tamara Neale said a favorable resolution to Virginia's deadlock would not go far.

"Any money we receive from the General Assembly will go to local programs, not megaprojects," she said. "Even if we do receive another $1 billion, it won't buy a third James River crossing in Hampton Roads or a Coalfields Expressway in Southwest Virginia. There's just too much to do."

There are some bright spots in the region's transportation picture. Although Pennsylvania's government is rethinking its overall transportation funding structure, PennDOT will let approximately $1.6 billion worth of construction work during 2006. The state's bridges will receive particular attention.

PennDOT says that 22 percent of structures more than 8 ft. long are considered structurally deficient-a disturbing fact punctuated by December's partial collapse of a box-beam structure spanning Interstate 70 near Pittsburgh.

"We're looking not only at upgrades, but also maintenance steps to prevent good bridges from deteriorating," said Rick Hogg, deputy secretary for highway administration.

Maryland appears to be in the best financial shape, thanks to a 2003 revenue increase authorized by its Legislature. Topping the list for the Maryland State Highway Administration are the Wilson Bridge; the 18-mi., $2.4 billion Intercounty Connector between I-95 and I-270; and an $800 million collaboration with the Maryland Transportation Authority to add express toll lanes along a 10-mi. stretch of I-95 north of Baltimore.

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"These three projects together are of a magnitude that we're not used to," said Doug Simmons, MSHA's deputy administrator/chief engineer for planning and engineering. "But while there's never enough money to do everything, we've been able to program a lot of needed projects in the past few years."

Sensible spending decisions Not surprisingly, the Mid-Atlantic's transportation agencies are taking a more aggressive approach to ensure maximum value from the dollars they can spend. Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia are stepping up their use of design-build and competitive sealed proposals for projects where time and specific expertise is critical.

"This approach will allow us to better evaluate the capability of engineers and contractors, particularly in highly sensitive areas," Simmons said, citing the 4.5-mi. State Route 30 bypass around Hampstead in Carroll County, a long-talked about congestion-relief project that will include protective measures for the endangered bog turtle.

Scheduled to get under way as a design-build effort this summer, the bypass "will be a model for other projects with similar environmental challenges," Simmons said.

PennDOT is using a review approach called "right-sizing," which strives to match appropriate transportation improvements with project needs and resources, while also considering community and regional perspectives.

Right-sizing has helped PennDOT craft a formula for addressing long-standing congestion issues on a constrained, topographically challenged stretch of State Route 28 East Ohio Street Improvement Project in Allegheny County.

The plan calls for upgrading the cramped 2.5-mi. corridor of signalized intersections with a grade-separated interchange, safety barriers, wider lanes and shoulders, and geometric improvements without extensive retaining walls and other community- and scenery-spoiling features that were rejected by local residents in previous proposals. Combined with PennDOT's constructability review, called Value Engineering/Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer, right-sizing has helped trim $30 million from the construction cost of the project, which is scheduled to begin in 2009.

Meanwhile, the department is working on a $144.2 million construction of the new 5.5 mile Trexlertown Bypass of Route 222 and Route 100 in Lehigh County, with Allan A. Myers and Balfour Beatty Construction managing the two legs of construction. A large portion of the bypass will be a boulevard-style roadway featuring a 30-ft.-wide grass median. In addition, PennDOT has maintenance projects underway, such as the $18.2 million repair of I-476 and I-76 in Montgomery and Delaware Counties, and the $16.1 million upgrade to I-95, with Crossing Construction Company, of Washington Crossing, Pa. serving as general contractor on the project, slated for completion in August.

Virginia is also looking for great local involvement, but in a somewhat different way. "More localities will take over management of their road construction and maintenance programs," Neale said. "We'll assist them with the transfer of responsibilities and ensure they spend earmarked federal funds appropriately."

Bottom-line blues Financing is likely to remain the most pressing topic on the Mid-Atlantic's highway agenda for some time. Along with the scarcity of start-up dollars, the spiraling costs of concrete, steel and petroleum-based asphalt products will make catching up difficult to do.

"The most critical maintenance needs will get done, but that new lane or major repaving work won't happen," said DelDOT's Williams of his state's short-term prospects.

All agencies are searching for alternative solutions. A nine-member Transportation Funding and Reform Commission appointed by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is due to present in-depth recommendations for highway and transit funding this fall.

"The commission is looking at the whole scheme of highway and transit building and funding," said PennDOT press secretary Rich Kirkpatrick. "We're hopeful that the report will provide the foundation for consensus on a long-term solution to our transportation needs."

Virginia may also make greater use of its already aggressive use of private-sector financing, which is being used to expedite new interchanges in the Route 28 corridor and high-occupancy toll lanes on the Capital Beltway.

"We're using this approach where it makes sense for highway users and the private-sector," Neale said. "We'll also outsource more maintenance functions. Overall, our role as an agency will change from being performers to being project managers."

Maryland's Simmons agreed that private-sector involvement has many intriguing possibilities for his state, particularly with transit-oriented developments.

"A currently unfunded construction project like a Beltway interchange for the Greenbelt Metro could move forward sooner if the private-sector gets involved," he added. "We'll also look at using tolling and congestion pricing, but it will be up to the MTA to move forward with those."