VRE submits proposal for $187 million in projects funded by I-66 E-ZPass Express Lanes

Improvements would come to Manassas line, stations 

There’s a pot of $500 million on the table thanks to the Interstate 66 E-ZPass Express Lanes project, and Virginia’s commuter railroad wants its share.

Virginia Railway Express CEO Doug Allen won approval from the railroad’s operations board Friday to submit a $187 million proposal to the state for projects to include the widening of a train storage yard at Broad Run Station at the Manassas Airport and building a third track south of Manassas.

Other projects noted in the package include purchasing 10 new rail cars to extend the length of Manassas Line trains to accommodate more riders, extending a passenger waiting platform at the Downtown Manassas VRE station, and funding for a $26 million parking garage at the Manassas Park VRE Station. The unfunded projects have been on the commuter railroad’s long-range plan.

The $500 million is a lump-sum payment to the state from Express Mobility Partners, “a consortium of Spanish multinational company Ferrovial; a subsidiary, Cintra; global investment and asset management firm Meridian; and construction firm Allan Myers — to finance, design, maintain and operate the toll expressway” on I-66 for 50 years, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe through the state’s Northern Virginia Transportation Authority opened a bid for project proposals June 8. The bids close on June 28, and the monies expected to be awarded to the winning projects before McAuliffe leaves office in January.

“I am one of the people who live in this world where people way ‘well, it’s only $500 million,’ but this is an incredibly short amount of time to review the projects that will be submitted,” said VRE Operations Board member Marty Nohe.

Nohe added billions of dollars of projects could be submitted for consideration. He is also the Chairman of the NVTA and was pressed by fellow VRE Board member Katie Cristol, of Arlington, on how the NVTA might score VRE’s, and other project submissions all vying for the same pot of funds.

“The NTVA has a funny way of deciding what it wants to do,” added Nohe, who said NVTA Executive Director Monica Backmon would be responsible for formulating a final list of project submissions, not himself.

The actual payment from Express Mobility Partners is $675 million, but $175 million of the funds will be taken off the top to be paid to state agencies like VDOT for negotiating the deal.

As for the projects, the storage yard at the Broad Run station is at capacity meaning no more rail cars can be kept there. The system needs to find a place to store at least nine more rail cars scheduled to be delivered this year. This year’s new cars are not a part of this recent $187 million funding request.

If awarded, nine of the new rail cars awarded with the $187 million would be used on the Manassas line to increase capacity, while one would be used as a spare.

The proposal calls for adding two new storage tracks at Broad Run to store the new cars. The expansion would eat up some parking spaces at the heavily-used lot, so VRE would also use $19.2 million to replace the parking, as well as expand the lot by 975 spaces, bringing the total number of spaces at the lot to 1,975.

VRE officials have talked of relocating the Broad Run station closer to Manassas, near the Virginia DMV office at the city’s Gateway mixed-use housing and commercial development project. That move has not been approved, and these funds, if awarded, would not be used for a station relocation.

Train platforms at Broad Run and Manassas stations would also be expanded to accommodate longer, eight-car trains. There’s also $26 million in the request to fully fund the construction of a parking garage at the Manassas Park station.

As part of the I-66 E-ZPass Express Lanes project, electronic signs — much like the ones on I-95 and I-495 — will be installed overhead to give drivers updates on road conditions, as well as current travel times. VRE wants to use $6 million of the funds to tap into that system, to let drivers know how many parking spaces are available at VRE stations along the I-66 corridor so that drivers may choose to get off the highway and onto a commuter rail train.

A third track from the Broad Run station to a railroad junction in Manassas, just south of the city’s downtown station, would also be constructed at an estimated cost of $20.3 million. VRE says the track would separate the commuter rail trains from freight trains operated by Norfolk-Southern. 

Currently, freight trains do not delay VRE trains or vice-versa. However, the VRE says they are planning ahead as Norfolk-Southern has said it plans to increase the number of freight trains that use the railroad line.