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Virginia gets $729 million federal boost for Potomac bridge, other rail projects

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Virginia gets 9 million federal boost for Potomac bridge, other rail projects


Virginia has received $729 million in federal money that advances a plan to boost train capacity over the Potomac River and grow passenger rail operations within the decade, members of the state’s congressional delegation announced Thursday.

The grant will support construction of a new Long Bridge, which is projected to cost nearly $2.3 billion, according to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. The federal aid is critical for filling a funding gap that officials had warned could put the project at risk for delays.

The existing 117-year-old, double-track span over the Potomac — the main route for trains traveling south from Washington — is at 98 percent capacity during peak traffic times. Plans call for a new two-track span parallel to the current Long Bridge that would separate passenger and freight trains, boost commerce and meet demands for passenger trains along the Interstate 95 corridor.

“Long Bridge is the connection between the Northeast and the Southeast, and there’s nothing that can really happen in terms of growing our rail usage both for passenger and freight if you don’t deal with the Long Bridge,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said as members of the Virginia’s congressional delegation, along with Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), marked the award Thursday in Arlington.

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Va. seeks federal money as work set to start on new Potomac rail bridge

The new funding — through a passenger rail grant program as part of the federal infrastructure law — was announced as part of a series of grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation this week for major rail projects, including more than $6 billion for high-speed rail. That includes $3 billion for Brightline’s Las Vegas-to-Southern California route and another $3 billion to California High Speed Rail Authority for ongoing construction of a 500-mile project connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Thursday’s announcement came one day after Virginia’s rail authority voted to approve a construction contract for the north section of the project. It selected construction engineering firm Skanska and Flatiron to lead the work, planned from the northern banks of the Potomac to just south of the L’Enfant Plaza Virginia Railway Express station in the District. A second contract is expected to be issued next year for the construction of the new span over the river.

Officials said the Skanska-Flatiron team will take the project from design — now about 30 percent complete — to construction. Early work will begin next year, while construction is expected to be complete in six years.

The contractor selection is a major milestone in keeping the project’s timeline on track for the span to open in 2030.

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The new federal funding announced Thursday comes months after officials warned of delays if the money wasn’t secured this year to close a $729 million budget gap in Virginia’s rail program.

The rail authority had applied for $829 million in federal grants through two programs to help pay for construction of the bridge and other projects in Virginia’s $7.2 billion rail program. The new span and other upgrades just south of Washington aim to alleviate a growing East Coast bottleneck of passenger and freight trains at the Potomac.

Also Wednesday, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority approved the selection of a construction team for an almost mile-long bypass just south of the Franconia-Springfield Metro station, which will allow Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains to cross over two freight rail tracks to reduce delays. The two-year construction project is expected to begin in the spring.

Rail authority executive director DJ Stadtler said the selection of construction contractors for the Long Bridge’s northern section and the Franconia-Springfield project is “a significant milestone in our plan to build passenger rail infrastructure at a level not seen in generations.”

Cost rises for Potomac rail bridge that would eliminate East Coast bottleneck

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“We look forward to working with both teams in this important step toward making rail a viable transportation option and truly Transforming Rail in Virginia,” he said.

The funding also will support plans to build a third track along existing track in Northern Virginia, including three miles in Prince William County, two miles in Stafford County and four miles in Spotsylvania County.

The Long Bridge plan, conceived more than a decade ago, also calls for the addition of a pedestrian and bike bridge between Long Bridge Park in Arlington and East Potomac Park in the District.

CSX owns the Long Bridge, which is mostly in the District, as the new bridge will be. The new span, which will be owned by the state, is critical for Virginia to realize its ambitions to grow commuter and passenger train service, as well as handle projected increases in freight transportation because of growth at the Port of Virginia.

The additional capacity connecting the District’s Southwest Waterfront to Crystal City will also help Virginia separate passenger and freight trains, which officials say will improve service reliability, and let Virginia Railway Express introduce more service. In anticipation of the improvements, the commuter rail line already is planning to introduce Saturday trips next year.

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Virginia Basketball Holds Off Manhattan 74-65 | Key Takeaways

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Virginia Basketball Holds Off Manhattan 74-65 | Key Takeaways


Virginia (4-2) got back in the win column with a 74-65 victory over Manhattan (3-3) on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Here are our five quick takeaways from the Cavaliers’ win over the Jaspers.

Virginia was in serious need of a win after suffering those two humbling losses to Tennessee and St. John’s in The Bahamas. But a convincing and comfortable victory would have been even better and for a while, it seemed like the Cavaliers were on their way to doing just that. UVA led by as many as 15 points in the first half and opened up a 16-point advantage midway through the second half. But rather than putting the game away, Virginia let Manhattan hang around and the visiting Jaspers were in a situation where they were fouling to stop the clock in the final minutes, narrowing the deficit to as little as six points. A win is a win, but this was far from a confidence-boosting performance.

Virginia went with a new starting lineup on Tuesday night, as Andrew Rohde replaced TJ Power. Rohde has been playing very well recently, particularly with his resurgent outside shot, while Power came into this game shooting 25% from beyond the arc this season.

Power initially responded well to the benching, swishing a corner three shortly after he first entered the game, hitting the deck for a loose ball, and coming up with a steal to stop a Manhattan fastbreak. But he wound up playing only six minutes, fewest among Cavaliers who saw the floor in the game. That does not bode well for the Duke transfer.

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Read Val’s Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Rohde, on the other hand, had another solid game and was perhaps the top performer for the Hoos on Tuesday night. Though he missed his only three-pointer, which was a desperation off-balanced heave at the end of the shot clock, Rohde finished with a season-high 14 points, two assists (with one turnover), two rebounds, and four steals. Rohde showed excellent feel for the game, getting exactly where he wanted to go and exhibiting some nice touch on a couple of floaters plus a short jumper off the glass. If Rohde is playing like this and his three-point shot continues to be there, this could be a big season for the former St. Thomas transfer.

The main reason why this game continued to be close deep into the second half is because UVA’s defense frequently broke down and gave up open shots to Manhattan, particularly from the perimeter. The Jaspers shot 11/26 (42.3%) from beyond the arc and and seven different players knocked down a three. A couple of those Manhattan triples were well-contested, but the vast majority of them were wide-open. That’s very concerning and shows that this Virginia defense, with its many new faces, is still very much a work in progress.

Virginia’s offense was pretty well neutralized by Tennessee and St. John’s in The Bahamas. Tuesday night against Manhattan was a small step in the right direction, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

Let’s start with the good. Five different Cavaliers scored in double figures, including a game-high 18 points from Isaac McKneely, who hit three of his four three-point attempts and went 5/6 from the free throw line. We still think McKneely needs to shoot way more, but we’ll leave that alone for now. Dai Dai Ames scored 10 points and dished out five assists, but fouled out of the game. Blake Buchanan made his first four shots and finished with 11 points and five boards. Cofie made five of his seven shots and finished with 10 points and five boards. The best part of the game was that Virginia had 15 assists on 29 made baskets and turned the ball over only eight times, a vast improvement over the team’s turnover issues in The Bahamas.

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Virginia outscored Manhattan 42-22 in the paint. That looks like a good stat, but it’s also an inevitable stat because of UVA’s size advantage over the Jaspers, whose tallest player in the rotation is 6’8″. Still, Manhattan snared 10 offensive rebounds and scored 11 second-chance points. In The Bahamas, UVA was dominated on the glass and was simply outmatched from a physicality and athleticism standpoint. Nothing we saw from the Cavaliers on Tuesday night did anything to alleviate those concerns.

Up next, Virginia remains at home for another (supposed) tune-up game against Holy Cross on Friday at 4pm at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball

UVA Basketball: Ten Things We Learned About Virginia in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to St. John’s 80-55 | Key Takeaways

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Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball

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Virginia vs. Manhattan Live Updates | NCAA Men’s Basketball


Virginia (3-2) is set to host Manhattan (3-2) on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. Follow along with score updates, play-by-play, and live analysis for the game in the thread below. Updates will be posted at each timeout in reverse chronological order with the most recent updates at the top of the article. Refresh the page for updates.

As we await our 7pm tip between Virginia and Manhattan on the ACC Network, read a full preview of the game here: Virginia Basketball vs. Manhattan Game Preview, Score Prediction

Virginia has posted its starting five for tonight’s game:
– Dai Dai Ames
– Isaac McKneely
– Andrew Rohde
– Elijah Saunders
– Blake Buchanan

Notably, TJ Power has been replaced by Andrew Rohde in the starting lineup after starting the first five games of the season. Power is shooting 25% from three (4/16), while Rohde is currently shooting 50% from beyond the arc (7/14).

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  • Virginia and Manhattan will meet on Tuesday night for just the second time ever and first time since March 19th, 1993, when the Cavaliers defeated the Jaspers 78-66 in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
  • UVA is 9-0 against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
  • Virginia’s last game against a MAAC team was back in 2012, when the Cavaliers defeated Fairfield 54-45 at John Paul Jones Arena.
  • UVA is 2-0 at John Paul Jones Arena this season and 3-0 against unranked opponents this season.

Read more Virginia men’s basketball news and content in the links below:

UVA Basketball: Ten Things We Learned About Virginia in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to St. John’s 80-55 | Key Takeaways

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Gets Skunked by Tennessee in The Bahamas

Virginia Basketball Falls to Tennessee 64-42 | Key Takeaways



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Suspect steals property from store, assaults employee in Virginia

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Suspect steals property from store, assaults employee in Virginia


A man has been arrested after entering a store in McLean, stealing merchandise and assaulting an employee. 

The suspect has been identified as Calvin Hughes Jr, of Washington D.C.

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Leesburg Pike robbery suspect 

Police responded to the 8300 block of Leesburg Pike in McLean for a commercial robbery on November 21 around 11:00 a.m. According to police, the suspect entered the store, stole merchandise, and assaulted an employee. 

Hughes Jr. was identified and arrested nearby for robbery and is being held without bond. 



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