Rail connection would aid new tech center: Meeting held to discuss Spotsylvania Technology Center

Oct 09, 2008 (The Free Lance-Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- CSX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Bringing the Virginia Railway Express to Spotsylvania County is key to making the Spotsylvania Technology Center a success, the center's executive director said at a planning meeting Tuesday.

Bob Duffy made the remarks while addressing a group at the Fredericksburg Country Club. The meeting was held to continue ironing out plans for the STC.

The technology center is part of the Tricord Cos.' planned Summit Crossing development south of U.S. 17 and east of Interstate 95 near the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, which is now under construction.

Duffy envisions gathering a stable of companies that can pool their resources to go after big government contracting jobs. SimVentions, a software-development firm that specializes in tactical software for the military, is spearheading the vision. It's now in the Deep Run Office Park off Bowman Drive.

Duffy said that people in areas to the north such as Woodbridge would likely be willing to commute to Spotsylvania if they could take the VRE train south to the proposed station near the STC, which could include as much as 650,000 square feet of office space.

Tricord principal Mike Jones said he has spoken with VRE officials, and they told him it would be possible to run a southbound train in the morning and a northbound route in the afternoon.

Mark Roeber, VRE's manager of public affairs and government relations, said the train service is focused on growing "north-south" service first, where riders from the south commute north in the morning and south in the evening.

Running "continuous-flow" train service, with trains operating in both directions throughout the day, would require a second platform at each station and a third track running the length of the Fredericksburg Line.

VRE is planning to build second platforms, and a third track, but those are large projects that will take time to build, Roeber said. "We're not at that point yet," he said.

Plus, CSX Corp. owns the tracks and controls train movement. "No matter what we did, whether it's adding one train or 20 trains, they have to be on board with the whole approach," Roeber said.

A faster way to add reverse service to Spotsylvania would be by convincing Amtrak to add a stop there, so trains running south from Union Station and Alexandria could let passengers disembark at Summit Crossing. In the evening, northbound Amtrak trains could carry workers back to Northern Virginia and Washington.

Thus far, Spotsylvania's supervisors have resisted joining the VRE, as it would mean enacting a 2 percent gas tax in the county.

Supervisors Hap Connors, Gary Skinner and Jerry Logan were at Tuesday's meeting. Logan is considered a swing vote on the VRE decision; Connors, Skinner and Supervisor Benjamin Pitts support it.

The supervisors could vote on the matter in the next few months. They're also expected to vote at the end of this year or the beginning of next on whether to rezone the 925 acres for Tricord's proposed Summit Crossing development.

In addition to the STC and a variety of residential and retail components, Tricord's development calls for a federal corporate campus that could draw government agencies looking to expand outside Washington.

Rep. Rob Wittman, who represents the Fredericksburg area, said at the meeting that he has spoken with people in Washington about expanding the borders of the National Capital Region, which now ends at the southern border of Prince William County.

The General Services Administration handles most leases for federal agencies, and often restricts the search to the National Capital Region. If the border were extended south, Fredericksburg-area office developers could compete for government leases. Square-footage rates are typically lower in the Fredericksburg area than in Washington.

Wittman said he thinks that request is moving in the right direction, and said "that needs to happen."

Tricord spokesman Hart Rutherford noted that 68 percent of Spotsylvania's work force commutes outside the county, and many have said they'd take a pay cut to work closer to home. Tricord's promotional materials say the Summit Crossing project could draw 9,600 new jobs over the next 20 years. Rutherford called the STC "the lead element of the entire project."

The STC would partner with Germanna Community College, whose Fredericksburg-area campus is nearby, and other colleges and government agencies. Germanna could offer engineering classes and other courses to train the work force.

In addition to a new VRE station, Tricord's plans for Summit Crossing call for a new Interstate 95 interchange around mile marker 123, and a new road that connects to U.S. 17. -- Staff reporter Kelly Hannon contributed to this report.

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