Capital Beltway High Occupancy Toll Lanes Northern Virginia

PROJECT COST: $1.4 Billion

The $1.4-billion Capital Beltway High Occupancy Toll Lanes project on Interstate 495 in northern Virginia is designed to ease congestion and offer drivers another option for more quickly reaching their destinations. More than 200,000 drivers a day use this stretch of highway.

The Virginia Department of Transportation has partnered with Fluor-Transurban, a joint venture between Fluor of Irving, Texas, and Transurban, an international toll road investor and manager located in New York and Australia, to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the HOT lanes. Fluor serves as the managing partner and is working with the Lane Construction Corp. of Cheshire, Conn., to build the road.

Fluor and Transurban formed Capital Beltway Express to operate the lanes during the 80-year concession management contract.

After a formal groundbreaking in July, work continues on the 14-mi-long project, which includes improvements and replacement of a significant portion of the existing infrastructure, including more than 50 bridges and overpasses. Flour-Lane will add four HOT lanes in the center of the interstate, which vehicles with three or more passengers will be able to use at no charge, while drivers with fewer passengers can pay a variable toll, based on traffic conditions, to use the lanes. The team will upgrade 11 interchanges and construct more than 13 mi of sound walls.

The new lanes are scheduled to open in 2013.

Key Players

Owner: Virginia Department of Transportation
Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain Contractor: Fluor Corp., Irving, Texas; Transurban, New York; Lane Construction Corp., Cheshire, Conn.
Design Partner: HNTB, Arlington, Va.