On Feb. 15, Gov. Glenn Youngkin urges the FBI to pick Springfield for the FBI headquarters.
The intensifying rivalry between Virginia and Maryland over the prized new FBI headquarters may be driving a wedge between the states on regional transportation improvements important to Northern Virginia.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Virginia’s senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, took a shot at Maryland on Friday over a private transportation company’s abrupt withdrawal from a partnership with the state for replacing the American Legion Bridge where Interstate 495 crosses the Potomac River, and building toll express lanes there and on Interstate 270 through Montgomery County, Maryland.
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In a column published in The Washington Post, the Republican governor and Democratic senators linked the decision by Transurban this month to drop out of the public-private partnership with Maryland to the competition between the states for the new FBI headquarters.
The economic development race has become testy, as Maryland claims the federal guidelines for the project unfairly favor Virginia, while Youngkin and his allies say a proposed site at Springfield in Fairfax County is superior in part because of major state investments in I-495 and other transportation improvements in Northern Virginia. Maryland has proposed sites in Greenbelt and Landover in Prince George’s County.
“Maryland has not made major transportation improvements to its Beltway system in decades and just lost its partner in the effort to add express lanes to Interstate 270,” they wrote. “Northern Virginia has already rebuilt its interstate network, investing more than $15 billion in these critical arteries.”
Big stakes for Virginia
The Virginia leaders did not mention the Beltway Accord that then-Gov. Ralph Northam in Virginia and then-Gov. Larry Hogan in Maryland announced two years ago to fix what they called “one of the worst traffic chokepoints in the nation” on I-495 at the American Legion Bridge between Fairfax and Montgomery counties. Virginia is extending its network of express toll lanes almost to the bridge, which Maryland controls because the Potomac is part of its state territory.
Virginia has a big stake in the project being built because of traffic congestion on both sides of the bridge and its effect on Northern Virginia, which remains the economic engine of the state’s economy because of its proximity to the federal government in Washington and the defense industry in the region.
“Without a coordinated plan, you’re not going to solve congestion in Northern Virginia,” said Aubrey Layne, a former Virginia secretary of transportation and finance and an unpaid adviser to Youngkin during the transition between Northam and Youngkin a year ago.
Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter said Friday that “Virginia’s 495 NEXT project to extend the Express Lane network on the Beltway is independent of the Maryland project. 495 NEXT will provide travel time savings, congestion relief, and increased travel choices to travelers.”
“Virginia will continue to coordinate with Maryland as they determine their next steps to alleviate one of the region’s worst traffic bottlenecks,” Porter said.
‘Brutal’ congestion
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who took office two months ago, said last week that he is committed to working with “our partners to the south of us” and private investment firms to carry out the project to replace the American Legion Bridge and relieve traffic congestion on I-495 and I-270, which runs through Montgomery, the state’s most populous and affluent county.
“The congestion, it’s brutal,” Moore said in a Zoom appearance on Wednesday with the Greater Washington Board of Trade, which advocates regional solutions to traffic that remains a top concern on both sides of the Potomac.
He did not blame Hogan, his Republican predecessor, for failing to solve a problem that he said had spanned numerous governors over many years. He noted that Transurban, an Australian company that is the lead partner on the 495 NEXT project in Virginia, walked away from its agreement with Maryland despite receiving an extension from Hogan to give it more time to produce a plan.
“We are committed to advancing the work in a way that minimizes any potential delay,” said Moore, who noted that the state retains the crucial federal record of decision on the environmental permits for the project.
He also said he welcomes the role of public-private transportation partnerships, or P3s, which he called “a valuable tool” for financing and constructing the proposed improvements, along with potentially major federal contributions through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed last year.
“I’m not against P3s at all,” Moore said, “but we just need to make sure that we have the public interest ... being served.”
Highways vs. transit
Hogan’s proposal faced strong public opposition, particularly in Montgomery, over concerns that it favored expanding highways over transit, and gave a private company a long-term concession to collect dynamically priced tolls that soar when congestion on free traffic lanes is worst.
Layne was transportation secretary under then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who worked with the Republican-controlled General Assembly in 2015 to enact major reforms to the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act after a series of allegedly flawed deals signed by his predecessor, Gov. Bob McDonnell. Those projects included a canceled agreement to build a toll expressway along U.S. 460 that cost the state $260 million without turning over a single shovel of dirt because it was unlikely to receive necessary federal environmental permits.
The reforms paid off the next year for Virginia, which awarded a $2.5 billion contract to a Spanish-based consortium to finance and build more than 22 miles of toll express lanes on Interstate 66 outside of the Beltway. The consortium, I-66 Express Mobility Partners, paid Virginia $500 million up front for the project, along with money for other regional transportation improvements, in exchange for a long-term concession to collect toll revenues on the express lanes.
“Not one single cent of taxpayer money will be used to construct” the project, McAuliffe boasted in announcing the deal in November 2016.
Virginia has relied heavily on public-private partnerships to pay for major highway projects in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, but the state requires that the projects maintain access to free travel lanes, giving drivers the choice of paying often high tolls to avoid congestion at peak travel times.
“Managed [toll] lanes do offer people a choice,” said Layne, now a Hampton Roads health care executive who serves on the board of managers of I-66 Express Mobility Partners.
31 photos from the Times-Dispatch archives
In September 1984, the Empire Theatre on Broad Street in downtown Richmond reopened with a gala and performance from the Richmond Symphony. Opened in 1911, the Empire closed and reopened many times since its founding. It is now known as the Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre and is home to the Virginia Rep.
In December 1951, Mrs. Herbert Flax showed her daughter, Susan April, how to light candles on the menorah in celebration of Hanukkah at Temple Beth Israel in Richmond. Flax was chairwoman of Women’s Club gift shop.
In June 1972, residents of a neighborhood in the town of Columbia, in Fluvanna County, stood at the end of a flooded street off state Route 6. The remnants of Hurricane Agnes brought some of the worst flooding in decades to many parts of the state, including Richmond.
In January 1954, Mrs. Elvira Daves (right), postmistress of Sabot in Goochland County, turned over the day’s mail to Mrs. Cy Williams. In the article that accompanied this photo, Daves said she and her husband planned to leave the village soon, and the Williams family would have to find new tenants for the post office and general store.
In January 1973, a young customer explored the offerings at the Carter’s Dry Goods and Notions store on Oregon Hill in Richmond. An accompanying article said the store’s biggest attraction was the penny candy counter — and some of the busiest times were after school, when children streamed in the after getting off the bus.
In September 1945, the sound of the bell summoned students to George Wythe School in Richmond on the first day of class.
In early December 1954, 3-year-old Joe Corman surveyed a row of Christmas trees at a lot off the Petersburg Pike. According to the accompanying caption, these trees were an early shipment from Northern states.
In March 1985, the Diamond was in the late stages of construction. The 12,500-seat baseball stadium on the Boulevard in Richmond was set to open a month later for the new season. Compared with Parker Field, the Diamond offered more seating, concessions, restrooms and boxes where guests could host parties while watching the game.
In May 1965, Lady Bird Johnson played tourist with a movie camera during a trip to Monticello near Charlottesville. The first lady was on a two-day tour of Virginia attractions, in part to promote the beautification of public places. Her trip began with the dedication of the first highway rest area in Virginia on Interstate 95 at Dumfries. After Monticello, she traveled to Abingdon and attended the Barter Theatre.
This December 1984 image shows the Bolling Haxall House on East Franklin Street at Third Street in downtown Richmond. The Italianate mansion, built in the 1850s by one of Richmond’s wealthiest residents, Bolling Walker Haxall, was sold in 1900 to the local Woman’s Club, which remains based there. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In March 1964, two Chickahominy tribe members in Charles City County worked on a small farm. Leonard Adkins (left) also was a teacher, and Wilfred Holmes was a student. An article that accompanied this photo reviewed population trends among Virginia’s Indian tribes.
In December 1954, cars on the left side of East Franklin Street near Fifth Street in downtown Richmond weren’t parked — they were stacked up for more than three blocks waiting to turn on Seventh Street or get to a nearby parking garage on Grace Street. This scene was typical for a weekend shopping day during the holiday season.
In September 1948, Richmond men registered for the draft at Chandler Junior High School in Richmond. An accompanying article reported that 9.5 million men ages 18 to 25 were expected to register between mid-August and mid-September in Virginia.
In December 1974, young members of Temple B’nai Shalom lighted candles on the menorah in celebration of Hanukkah. The synagogue, which was on Three Chopt Road in Henrico County, later merged with Temple Beth-El in Richmond.
In December 1973, Hal Weafer stood with one of his Christmas trees - he had been cutting down the fir balsam trees at his property in Maine and delivering them to Richmonders for 50 years. Weafer was a former first baseman for the minor-league Richmond Colts who later became a baseball umpire.
This October 1957 image shows the High’s Ice Cream plant on West Broad Street in Richmond. Founded in Richmond by L.W. High, the company had numerous ice cream shops in Richmond, which were known for their black-and-white checkered floor tiles. The company’s opening-day special in 1932 was buy one Big Cone for 5 cents, get the second free.
In December 1982, a celebration of the seven-day Kwanzaa holiday began at Richmond’s Hippodrome Theater with a reading of the Nguzo Saba, the seven core principles, by Jamil Mulazim. Douglas Weffer (left) and Umar Kenyatta lighted symbolic candles. Kwanzaa, derived from the Swahili term for “first fruits,” was developed as an African-American celebration in the 1960s.
In January 1977, John Warner and Elizabeth Taylor ran through the snow with their dog Daisy. During Warner’s campaign for Senate in 1978, the couple resided in Richmond at the Berkshire Apartments on West Franklin Street. They were married in 1976 and divorced in 1982.
In May 1952, the Richmond Motel, located at Brook Road and Lombardy Street, was undergoing an expansion. The motel opened in February of that year with eight rooms and was adding 26 more.
In January 1973, John and Debbie Nelson were in their junior year at the Petersburg General Hospital School of Nursing. The two decided independently to become nurses, and their paths crossed in 1971 when they were students at Norfolk General Hospital. By October 1972, they were married and transferred to Petersburg General.
In October 1949, an organ grinder and his monkey entertained a young girl at the State Fair of Virginia, held at the Atlantic Rural Exposition fairgrounds. The fair’s array of exhibits and events included motorcycle races, driving safety instruction from the state police and displays of the latest household inventions.
In April 1960, more than 10,000 spectators attended the Richmond Virginians’ exhibition game against the New York Yankees at Parker Field in Richmond. The Vees, part of the International League, played in Richmond from 1954 to 1964 and were the AAA affiliate of the Yankees for much of that span.
In late January 1964, W.M. McDaniel shopped for a pipe at a store in downtown Richmond. An article that accompanied the photo said that for several weeks Richmonders had been favoring pipes over cigarettes in significantly larger numbers, based on tobacco sales. The hypothesis: The Surgeon General’s report that month linked smoking to lung cancer but said cigarettes were worse than pipe smoking.
In September 1976, more than 1,000 rafts, kayaks and canoes crowded into the Jordan Point Yacht Haven and Marina in Hopewell for the second Great James River Raft Race to benefit multiple sclerosis research and local MS projects. The race concluded across the river at Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County. Rafters were awarded prizes for speed, design originality and amount of money raised through pledges.
In December 1966, drivers in a toll lane at the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike’s Falling Creek interchange were greeted by a cheery holiday message instead of the usual illuminated “go” sign.
In February 1949, W.A. Evans of the Richmond police dusted an empty ring box for fingerprints after a daring robbery of the Schwarzschild Jewelers on East Broad Street in downtown Richmond. The thieves took off with a haul of diamonds, other gems and watches — more than 1,000 pieces — with a value exceeding $200,000. Three men were caught and went to prison, though the search for most of the jewels continued long thereafter.
In March 1963, four men played pool at the Richmond Community Action Program Senior Center at Marshall Street and Brook Road. The center gave seniors access to financial counseling, education classes and other programs.
In March 1957, a boy and girl walked through Chesterfield County farmland with their tools, ready to help with planting. Blossoms on the nearby plum tree were signs of spring.
In February 1952, sexton James R. Eapes rang the bell at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Church Hill in Richmond while the Rev. Robert B. Echols stood by. The toll marked the passing of Britain’s King George VI, whose death that month at age 56 led to worldwide mourning.
In December 1963, workers in the Henrico Christmas Mother campaign sorted gifts of food and toys collected at county schools. The donations were then taken to the welfare department and distributed to needy families. The campaign also was nearing its cash contribution goal of $2,500.
On Christmas Eve 1973, 4-year-old Greg Murphey (front) and 6-year-old brother Scott slept by the fire at their Richmond home — hoping that Santa Claus would make some noise during his visit so that they could catch him at work, filling their stockings and leaving presents under the tree.
