Nothing illustrates current regional economic collaboration better than the $2.43-billion, 7.5-mile (12-km.) Woodrow Wilson Bridge family of projects. How important is that bridge in economic terms? Well, it is the only bridge still under the ownership of the federal government, which is ponying up $1.5 billion of the funding, with D.C., Virginia and Maryland providing the rest.
      Eleven percent of the 200,000 vehicles that cross the 43-year-old structure every day are heavy trucks. And approximately 7,000 tractor-trailers cross the bridge every day carrying goods beyond the Washington area up and down I-95. In fact, according to 1993 economic data, the bridge conveys a full 1.3 percent of the gross national product. That doesn't even count significant categories of goods and services.

The Peninsula Alliance for Economic Development in Hampton, Va., has helped NASA develop a proposal for a 1,500-job shared services center. By June 2005, the Hampton area will find out if it beats out other candidate sites in Houston, Texas; Biloxi, Miss.; Orlando, Fla.; Huntsville, Ala.; and Cleveland, Ohio.

      "Given the absence of key categories as well as traffic volume and economic growth since 1993, it is likely that the bridge supports as much as $100 billion of the nation's economic output," says Norine M. Walker, PE, project coordination manager for the entire suite of projects. But it was made for just 75,000 daily crossings, and was never meant for through traffic. The bottleneck and accident totals were too high a toll to pay.
      The project encompasses everything from interchanges and bridge pedestals to reforestation and stream restoration. Walker says over 30 contracts have been advertised and are either completed or are under construction, with the cost approximately 12 percent under budget. Overall construction employment numbers around 1,000. After construction is complete, ownership will be conveyed to the Maryland SHA and Virginia DOT. But Walker notes that the collaboration extends well beyond the states and D.C.
      "With the project area traversing historic and diverse communities, close coordination with local officials and residents in the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County in Virginia and Prince George's County in Maryland is essential," she says, noting the years of trust-building that pave the way for bridge-building.
      "The proximity of the project to a large local development has also required extensive cooperation in Maryland," she adds. "Four construction contractors and their subcontractors are sharing hauling roads, as well as suppliers and a labor force, which has required that on-going communication to be in place constantly."