By Jimmy Sidney, Capital News Service

Video by Anna Parada, VCU InSight

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia will break ground on several long-awaited rail projects next year and has started to announce construction partners.

Virginia's investment in its passenger rail infrastructure aims to reduce chronic traffic, decrease its carbon footprint and catch up to states with a competitive state-run passenger rail service, such as New York, and Illinois. The new focus on investment comes after decades of neglect. 

Flash back to a late March afternoon at Alexandria Station in 2021. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg sits masked on stage as then-Gov. Ralph Northam announces a $3.7 billion investment in the state's passenger rail over a 10-year span. 

Flash forward two years, and 9 of the initial 15 projects overseen by the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority will soon leave the station. 

The VPRA oversees all state-supported passenger rail services. The General Assembly created the agency in 2020 to keep up the momentum and shield public infrastructure projects from wavering political sentiment.

"Regardless of who's in office, I'm pretty confident that they've been in rush hour traffic before and they've been frustrated by congestion," said DJ Stadtler, VPRA executive director. "We've got such a compelling mission that we shield ourselves from that kind of political up and down." 

Stadtler worked at Amtrak for 12 years in various executive roles prior to his work with the VPRA. He's the organization's first and only executive director. Amtrak is a partner in some VPRA efforts to transform rail service in Virginia.

"When you're looking at adding infrastructure, Virginia is actually way ahead of the game," said DJ Stadtler, VPRA executive director. "We've got the projects that are ready, they're being designed now."

Coming down the line

Nine projects are in varied states of preliminary engineering. That includes projects to the underserved but growing regions in Southwest Virginia and along the heavily trafficked Interstate-95 corridor between Richmond and Washington, D.C. At least a million passengers and millions of tons of freight ride the rails there annually.

The VPRA announced on Wednesday the selection of three construction partners for two major projects. 

One is the northern part of the Long Bridge project. 

The current Long Bridge, a two-track, 119-year-old piece of infrastructure owned by CSX, has become a choke point for passenger and freight trains alike. It operates at 98% capacity during peak travel hours. 

A two-track railroad bridge dedicated to passenger rail will be constructed next to the old Long Bridge. CSX will retain ownership of the original bridge and use it for freight traffic exclusively. 

Skanska and Flatiron were announced as the companies that will move the project from design to completion, with prep work starting next year and full construction beginning in early 2025. Skanska USA worked on the Moynihan Train Hall at New York Penn Station. Flatiron Corp. worked on the completed sections of the California High-Speed Rail project.

The new bridge will double rail capacity over the Potomac River and allow for almost hourly service between Washington D.C. and Richmond when completed in 2030.

The south part of the Long Bridge project will create a two-track passenger rail bridge over the Potomac River, and an adjacent bicycle-pedestrian bridge that connects trails and parks in Arlington to those in Washington D.C. VPRA will consider requests for proposals in February 2024. 

The entire Long Bridge project is projected to cost $2.3 billion. 

Flatiron and Herzog Contracting Corp. will work on the Franconia-Springfield bypass, the VPRA announced Wednesday. Herzog worked on the Brightline expansion of rail service in Orlando. 

Bypass work will create a dedicated passenger rail bridge under one mile long, south of the Franconia-Springfield Metro station. The area is one of the most congested points in Virginia, according to the VPRA. A $100 million grant was awarded for this project in September. It is slated to cost approximately $405 million. Full construction will start in March 2024 and last two years.

There are multiple phases of the work VPRA will do along the I-95 corridor, with varied completion dates. The first two phases will add a combined 37 miles of additional track. Eventually, passengers will gain access to additional Amtrak round trips along I-95, and additional round trips and weekend service on the Virginia Railway Express Fredericksburg Line.

Other capital projects include increased service to Newport News and Norfolk, expansion of rail service to the New River Valley for the first time since 1979, and improved service between Richmond and Raleigh, North Carolina. 

North Carolina on Tuesday announced a $1 billion U.S. Department of Transportation grant toward the Richmond to Raleigh project. That southern route will create a faster, more direct route between the cities. 

In a broader sense, the Long Bridge connects Washington D.C. to the entirety of the Southeastern U.S. All northbound passenger trains from this region terminate in Washington, D.C. 

 "We're strong partners with other states like North Carolina," Stadtler said. "They know that all of the infrastructure that they're investing in is useless unless we deliver the Long Bridge because that really opens the capacity for everybody." 

Driving train ridership

 VPRA-led work appears to have increased interest in passenger rail. A record 1.26 million people rode Amtrak or Virginia Railway Express in the last fiscal year. The all-time monthly ridership record of 119,280 passengers was set in August 2022.

Erika Olivo-Espinoza is a college student who regularly takes the train between her Northern Virginia home and school in Richmond. Amtrak has pretty good diversity among its Virginia ridership, she said. 

"I've seen a lot of students use Amtrak to go home as well," Olivo-Espinoza said. "I've also seen a lot of older people who can't drive, and also some families."

Olivo-Espinoza prefers Amtrak to other methods of transportation, like the bus, due to its speed, frequency and amenities.

"I took the train because I didn't have a car, it was just the most convenient thing for me, and it's not a long ride and they do have Wi-Fi," Olivo-Espinoza said. "They have good services."

The freight problem

Countries overseas have, for the most part, dedicated railways for passenger travel, according to Stadtler. 

American passenger rail competes with freight railroads, which own the vast majority of trackage in the U.S. Freight trains stacked with cargo are long and slow-moving. Passenger trains need to go a lot faster. The two often get in each other's way.

"Historically in our country, whenever we've wanted to add passenger rail, the freight railroads have said 'well, it's our track, we're not going to do that,'" Stadtler said. 

The U.S. standard is to negotiate track-sharing agreements with freight railroads, but the VPRA knew a different approach was needed to expand passenger rail.

"Let's go to the freight railroads," Stadtler said. "Let's find out where we need to add capacity so we can literally put passenger trains on a different track."

Virginia bought hundreds of miles of track from private freight railroads such as CSX and Norfolk Southern, at a total cost of $563 million. This investment will give passenger trains the right of way, make improvements to neglected rail infrastructure and increase train frequency.

Redesigning rail safety

New rail infrastructure projects, especially along the I-95 corridor, will increase safety through design. Railroads will be routed above roadways via bridges and streets will be redesigned.

 Virginia is ranked 13th in U.S. railroad crossing collisions, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Almost all U.S. railroad fatalities are a result of either pedestrians trespassing or collisions at railroad crossings.

"So when you close crossings you eliminate entrances or, you know, passageways across a track," said Margaret Cannell, state coordinator for North Carolina Operation Lifesaver.

Cannell pointed out that in Japan there are very few instances of vehicles or pedestrians hit by trains. High-speed trains in Japan travel up to 200 mph. In Virginia, Amtrak trains move at speeds up to 79 mph, but on average at 50 mph.

"It's because the train tracks are separated from vehicles and from people," Cannell said. "They're elevated or they're completely separated so that those paths don't cross."

North Carolina engaged in a series of rail improvements in the late 2010s called the Piedmont Corridor project. It was similar to the improvements Virginia is undertaking now. Over 48 North Carolina crossings were closed, according to Cannell. 

 The North Carolina Department of Transportation and VPRA are working closely together on projects, according to Cannell.

"They're fully invested in making sure that it's the safest that it can be and that the number of crossings that have to exist are minimal and they're as safe as they could be," Cannell said.

Cannell saw how impactful the North Carolina improvements were, and said Virginia's new focus is "a big deal" -- a "legacy" program.

"It's a big thing to be doing and the cooperation of CSX and VDOT has ... just completely made this a really great project," Cannell said. "One that people will be talking about using for many, many years to come."

Reporter Anna Parada of VCU InSight contributed to this report.

By Alyssa Hutton, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. -- Fatal overdose rates remain high in Virginia, even as the state begins to spread opioid settlement money to state and local agencies to help tackle the epidemic. 

Death from drug overdoses, opioids and fentanyl in particular, has remained the dominant method of unnatural death in Virginia since 2013, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Overdoses ticked slightly down last year, but the number is forecast to remain about the same or higher this year.

The state's opioid epidemic was officially declared a public health emergency in 2016, and opioid-related deaths increased 274% between 2012 and 2022, according to VDH data. The number of all fatal overdoses had a slightly lower spike in the same time period, at 228%.

Overdose deaths from fentanyl had the biggest jump, increasing 3,866% in that same time. 

Richmond, Roanoke, Petersburg, Portsmouth and Hopewell cities had the highest rate of fatal opioid overdoses in 2022. 

Virginia ranks 27th in the country for drug-related death rates and 15th for number of overall deaths, according to 2021 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

'It was a point of desperation' 

Last year, Travis Williams realized that he felt miserable both on and off drugs. He lived mostly in isolation, going to work and coming home to use cocaine and heroin.

"It was a point of desperation where nothing was working no more," Williams said. "Didn't wanna go forward, didn't wanna go back."

He threw away all the drugs he had, including methadone, but said he didn't experience withdrawal, which he credits to God. 

"I don't want to kill myself, but I don't want to live like this no more," Williams said about the pivotal moment. 

He has been sober for almost a year. He works with his best friend Jesse Wysocki, who he said he used to shoot heroin with, but now they're both in recovery and helping others. 

Wysocki is the chief operating officer at the McShin Foundation, a community recovery organization in Richmond with 16 recovery homes.

The recovery program is 28 days long and available for anyone with substance use disorder, Wysocki said. 

McShin does not offer detox or clinical services, although they help connect people with those programs. 

McShin pairs people with a recovery coach. Wysocki, like most of the staff, are peer recovery specialists who have faced addiction. Peer recovery specialists are considered mentors and motivators to those struggling with addiction and go through a certification program by the Virginia Certification Board.

Wysocki says a recovery coach with experience helps in one's personal recovery and also to support others.

"Whether I was in prison, jail, different treatment centers, so I know a lot of the behaviors that are associated with it," Wysocki said. "So I'm able to help identify that, it helps me better assist who's here trying to get services."

For Williams, things came full circle when he was asked to work with McShin's intensive program. That's because of his first experience there in 2019. His then-recovery attempt ended with a relapse, and multiple doses of the medicine naloxone to reverse what could have been a fatal overdose — as it was for the friend he used with that night. 

"I let my guard down and my disease started working with me," Williams said. "If I just do a little bit, I'll feel good."

That fatal overdose triggered changes at McShin, Williams said. And he served a two and a half year stint in jail for violating his charges. 

When Williams eventually returned to McShin, he agreed to work at the intensive housing program because he felt he had unfinished business. 

"Just a little bit that I've learned, through that I can give it back ... I find that like very fulfilling," Williams said.

Williams is now a part of the McShin team that helps with the reentry transition from prison or jail.

3 in 4 overdoses from fentanyl

Fentanyl overdoses were over 75% of fatal overdoses in 2022 in Virginia. 

This year's number of fentanyl-related deaths is already over 1,000 and is expected to surpass last year's number, according to VDH data. Cocaine and methamphetamine-related fatal overdoses have spiked in recent years in Virginia, due to being more commonly mixed with fentanyl. 

Sgt. Kevin Wilson has been with the Virginia Beach Police Department for 18 years. He started with the narcotics unit of the special investigations department in 2010. 

Wilson began to see the rise in opioid-use, specifically heroin, followed by the rise of fentanyl, not long after he started work with the narcotics unit.

"The majority of stuff we get contains part if not all fentanyl," Wilson said. 

Most illegal sellers and distributors aren't chemists, so they'll add a very potent substance such as fentanyl, Wilson said. That means a person's normal dose could be more potent, which drives an increase in overdoses. People might not know what they are getting.

"The overall strategy would be to go after the highest level source of supply so we can cut the head off the snake," Wilson said. 

The industry is constantly evolving, he said, which presents challenges.

"Once you take somebody off the street another person's gonna take their place," Wilson said.

Wilson has notified many families that they've lost a loved one to an overdose.

"They want closure for themselves, for their loved one," he said. "So being able to backtrack and go and find who sold them the drugs that caused them to to die and then bring closure for the families is probably the most satisfying."

Virginia's response to epidemic

Prescription opioid overdoses began to drop in 2015, with a significant recent decrease. Opioid manufacturers, wholesale distributors and pharmacies have been sued for their contributions to the opioid epidemic through overprescribing, deceptive marketing and dispensing. 

The Virginia General Assembly established the Opioid Abatement Authority in 2021. The OAA provides funds for efforts that educate, treat and support recovery for people addicted to opioids, according to Anthony McDowell, executive director of the OAA.

Virginia's estimated share of settlement money from the pharmaceutical industry is approximately $1.1 billion, as of September, according to a press release from state Attorney General Jason Miyares. 

Grant applications for cities and counties began in January and the OAA approved over $23 million in June. This money is in the process of being transferred to its recipients, according to McDowell.

Localities requested OAA funding for a range of different tactics, according to McDowell.

"The cities and counties take stock of what the needs are at the community level and envision what it would take to address those needs and submit that in the form of a grant application to the OAA," McDowell said. 

The OAA also approved in August just under $11 million in funding for state agencies, including executive branch agencies, judicial offices and universities. Programs include clinical research, prevention and education, treatment, recovery and more. Approximately $2 million is earmarked for media and education campaigns.

The VDH will receive the highest allotment at $2.9 million for its four programs. The bulk of funding will go toward increasing access to naloxone, the generic form of Narcan, which can be used to reverse opioid overdoses. One million dollars will support harm reduction programs. The department will also hire three new "opioid specialists" for each health district.

The Virginia Department of Corrections will receive $1.25 million for programs such as hiring six social workers and creating an educational video. VADOC will also launch a pilot program to test the effectiveness of medicine used to treat moderate opioid use. The selected participants will use an injectable buprenorphine extended-release medication instead of suboxone.

Parental substance use is one of the reasons children are removed from their home. There was an increase of these cases from 2010-2019, according to the Virginia Department of Social Services. It's common for family or friends to assume guardianship when a child is removed from the home. These guardians receive support through a kinship navigator program. 

The DSS was given $205,500 to expand five kinship navigator programs, for the second half of 2024.

"As far as efforts that are being funded by the authority, it's too soon to be able to take stock of the results yet," McDowell said. 

A locality's use of settlement money depends on where the lawsuit originated, if they were a part of the lawsuit and whether the funds are being distributed directly from the settlement or from the OAA.

The OAA was recently nationally awarded for its settlement allocation efforts. 

The state has made it easier since 2016 to procure naloxone over the counter without a prescription. The state also has a program to train people to recognize an opioid overdose and administer naloxone. 

Patients cannot be prescribed more than a seven-day supply of controlled substances containing opioids, unless under certain conditions, due to a state law passed in 2017.