Virginia governor Timothy M. Kaine announced Sep. 18 that the American Road and Transportation Builders Association has honored the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Secretary of Transportation Pierce R. Homer and Deputy Secretary of Transportation Barbara W. Reese for their outstanding work on Virginia’s nationally recognized public-private partnerships (P3s). The three honorees were recognized Sep. 15 at the ARTBA’s 20th Annual Conference on Public-Private Ventures in Transportation.
“Virginia is recognized by Forbes.com as the best place to do business in the U.S. and as the best managed state in the U.S. by Governing Magazine,” said Governor Kaine. “I think we can now safely add that Virginia has the best P3 program in the U.S., thanks to leaders like Secretary Homer and Deputy Secretary Reese, and the hard working men and women of VDOT.”
According to the ARTBA, these three were honored “for their outstanding advocacy and leadership in promoting the ‘practice, use and adoption’ of public-private partnerships on transportation improvement projects.” Since 1995, the Commonwealth’s Public-Private Transportation Act has delivered approximately $9 billion in transportation projects.
“Virginia has consistently led the P3 revolution in the U.S. and these awards from their peers recognize the Virginia leadership role,” said Jim Weinstein, ARTBA Public-Private Ventures Division Chairman. “ARTBA is proud of the past, present and future work of the Commonwealth in the P3 arena.”
Secretary Homer was the 2008 recipient of the ARTBA Public Sector Entrepreneur of the Year award. During his service as Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Transportation, he has been instrumental in the development of Virginia’s P3 program, working to ensure competition and accountability.
Deputy Secretary Reese was honored as a “Champion” for her “exemplary work in advancing the practice, use and adoption of P3s in transportation in the United States.” The ARTBA says that Reese has “set the standard” for the implementation of P3s, citing projects such as Dulles Rail, the Capital Beltway HOT Lanes, and the Pocahontas Parkway. Reese’s expertise is a valuable asset to senior-level federal officials, and local and state officials seeking to implement their own P3s.
VDOT was also honored as a “Champion” for its 13 years of commitment to P3s, demonstrated by the dedication of resources to major P3 projects including the Capital Beltway and I-95 HOT Lanes, Pocahontas Parkway in Richmond, Route 28 in Northern Virginia, the Coalfields Expressway in Southwest Virginia, and Route 460 and Midtown Tunnel projects in Hampton Roads. Thomas W. Pelnik III, VDOT director of innovative project delivery and Deborah Brown, VDOT director of innovative finance were specifically recognized for their work.
