The CEO of Transurban, one of the two contractors that has won the bid to build toll lanes between North Stafford and Edsall Road, told an Australian newspaper the company intends to pull out if the project is delayed once more due to a lengthy environmental review process, the Washington Examiner reports.
The project was delayed some 18 months while County Supervisors sued the state and federal governments citing a categorical exemption that allowed the lanes to be built without a proper environmental review.
In February, officials scrapped plans to build HOT lanes on I-395 in Arlington, and reduced the scope of the project to include I-395 only to Edsall Road.
A environmental review process currently underway should be finished by the fall, Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean T. Connaughton told the Examiner.
Transurban’s announcement comes less than a week after Connaugton announced the state’s new Office of Public-Private Transportation Partnerships headquartered in Richmond.
The office was established to help officials speed up the delivery of PPTA projects within the laws, while improving transparency and accountability, according to a press release.
