The City of Suffolk got a boost this week as it received $30.1 million from the state to improve roads to a proposed 540-acre industrial commerce park.
The Port 460 Logistics Center will be located in Hampton Roads along Route 460 and the Route 58 bypass. The center has access to the entire Norfolk region as well as Interstates 85 and 95.
The development is aimed to support increased activity at the Port of Virginia.
“Our investment in the Route 460 road improvement project and Port 460 Logistics Center development demonstrates our commitment to provide best-in-class infrastructure for Virginians, commerce and prospective businesses,” said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. “Through the power of partnership, we’re expanding the port’s operations and we’re accelerating a good growth engine for the Commonwealth.”
The City of Suffolk plans to widen and modernize a 2.3 mile stretch of Route 460 from the Route 58 bypass to Lake Prince Drive and redesign the interchange. The funds will advance the road project’s right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation phase.
The total estimated cost of the project is $86.8 million.
“Investing in improvements to that highway will benefit the effort to bring more speculative development, like the Port 460 Logistics Center, to the area, which will help attract port users and grow our cargo volumes,” said Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “Additionally, this will improve commuter safety, create investment in the 460 corridor and drive job growth. This is a forward-thinking decision that will create opportunity and serve multiple interests.”
The funds were allocated from the state’s Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund.
“Providing TPOF funding to improve the connecting transportation network to support economic development and growth is what these funds are intended to do,” said Virginia Secretary of Transportation W. Sheppard Miller III. “It supports the continued development of the Port of Virginia, the most efficient container port in North America.”
The Code of Virginia authorizes the governor to direct TPOF funds to the Commonwealth Transportation Board for transportation projects determined necessary to support major economic development initiatives.
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Crystal Graham
