Gov. Timothy M. Kaine today announced that Virginia has been named the Infrastructure State of the Year by CG/LA Infrastructure LLC, a global leader in public and private infrastructure development. States were evaluated with a model that combines quantitative information, such as infrastructure investment per capita and end user cost of electricity, and an eight criteria qualitative model including infrastructure vision, leadership, project quality, project performance and local engineering quality. Virginia ranked highly in the areas of infrastructure vision, leadership and project quality.
“This award is recognition that, despite hard economic times, we are doing a great job with what we have and are positioning ourselves for an economic rebound,” Kaine said. “Alongside our rankings in education, management and business attraction, this accolade shows that Virginia is investing strategically and creatively in its future.”
Five Virginia infrastructure projects, totaling $13.8 billion, will be presented at the North America Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum, to be held Sept. 22-24, in Washington, D.C.
– Northern Virginia’s I-495 Hot Lanes Project – A $1.4 billion public/private project that will facilitate transit, HOV and general traffic movement on Northern Virginia’s congested Capital Beltway.
– The Dulles Metrorail Corridor Project – A $5.3 billion project to extend the Washington Metrorail system to Dulles Airport and beyond.
– Norfolk Southern’s Crescent Corridor Project – Virginia was the first to invest in this $2.5 billion project, focused on the I-81 corridor from the Gulf to Canada, and removing long-haul trucks from the highways while creating new job centers in several states.
– The Port of Virginia Expansion Projects – $3 billion of public and private port and rail improvements.
– CSX/High Speed Rail Extension to Richmond – $1.6 billion of public and private rail improvements will improve freight movements and extend the high speed Northeast Corridor to the Richmond/Petersburg area.
“Financing and building infrastructure is probably the greatest current challenge that we face as a country,” according to Norman F. Anderson, President & CEO of CG/LA. “Virginia has put itself into a strong leadership position, developing creative new ways of financing almost every type of critical infrastructure – urban mass transit, highways, ports and logistics, and freight rail – and the Commonwealth has done so in the face of the serious financial challenges faced by the state, and every state in the country, every single day.”
The North America Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum will present the Top 100 North American strategic infrastructure projects, with an overall value of nearly $400 billion, and potential to create more than 6 million direct jobs. The Forum features critical projects strategic to increasing US competitiveness and generating jobs. Projects are presented by their developers, across 10 infrastructure sectors – Smart Grid; Highways/Bridges; Urban Mass Transit; High Speed Rail; Water/Wastewater; Airports; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Ports & Logistics; and Strategic Projects.
For more information on CG/LA Infrastructure, LLC, go to www.cg-la.com.
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