CG/LA Infrastructure, LLC announced today that Virginia has been named the Infrastructure State of the Year, in advance of the upcoming North America Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum, to be held from September 22-24, in Washington, DC.
“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.”
“Alongside our rankings in education, management and business attraction, this accolade shows that Virginia is investing strategically and creatively in its future,” said Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine. “It is recognition that while we are doing a good job with what we have, we are also positioning ourselves for the economic rebound.”
Pierce Homer, Virginia’s Secretary of Transportation, added: “We are extremely pleased by this recognition of our creativity and hard work in addressing not only the infrastructure needs of the Commonwealth in the 21st century, but in attracting private capital for our vision of the future.” The current infrastructure burden on the states is significant. According to CG/LA, in 1980 federal government transfers accounted for approximately 70% of infrastructure investments; by 2008 that situation had been reversed, with the states investing 70% and the federal government accounting for only 30% of investment in infrastructure projects.
Five transformational infrastructure projects from Virginia, totaling $13.8 billion, will be presented at the Leadership Forum:
- Northern Virginia’s I-495 Hot Lanes Project – This highly innovative $1.4 billion public/private project will take full advantage of new technology to 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, in a creative partnership among the federal government, the Metropollitan Washington Airports Authority, commercial landowners in the corridor and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- 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 incremental public and private port and rail improvements position Virginia to capture global market share when the Panama Canal expansion is completed in the middle of the next decade, creating as many as 54,000 new jobs.
- CSX/High Speed Rail Improvements – $1.6 billion of incremental public and private rail improvements will improve freight movements and extend the high speed Northeast Corridor to the Richmond/Petersburg area, and then onwards to both the Tidewater
North America Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum: The Leadership Forum will present the Top 100 North American strategic infrastructure projects, with an overall value of nearly $400 billion, and potential to create over 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. The 5 high-speed passenger rail projects ($129.4 billion) are by far the largest investment category on our list. Strategic Projects from Mexico and Canada are also included. For video overview, click here: Norman Anderson on The Leadership Forum.
The Global Network for Competitiveness & Opportunity: CG/LA Infrastructure, LLC, is the world leader in strategic infrastructure project identification and development (www.cg-la.com). The Leadership Forum is designed to bring infrastructure projects to life for countries, states and cities, by bringing all key actors together around strategic projects in a single, dynamic forum. And alongside the Leadership Forum, CG/LA’s Metrics Suite — the Global Infrastructure Rankings, the just-released 2nd Annual Global Infrastructure Outlook 2030, and the US Infrastructure Rankings — provides tools critical for policy and business decision-making worldwide.