Under a comprehensive agreement, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will maintain ownership of the infrastructure and oversee ERC's activities.
[1][2] In November 2020, Elizabeth River Crossings was sold by Skanska and the Macquarie Group to Abertis and John Hancock Financial.
The project was administered by Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC) along with VDOT as part of a 58-year public-private partnership (P3) concession that cost approximately $2.1 billion to complete.
The projects are designed to significantly reduce or eliminate congestion along the surface streets and other arterial roads of in the immediate area.
After the review process, which was required under the Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA), then-Governor Bob McDonnell and VDOT executed the Comprehensive Agreement with ERC on December 5, 2011.
[4][2] Under the agreement, VDOT retains ownership and oversight of the tunnels, while ERC finances, builds, operates and maintains the facilities for a 58-year concession period.
Funding is collected from tolls, private equity, contributions from the Commonwealth and a low-interest Federal Highway Administration loan.
"[16] A September report in The Virginian-Pilot revealed that the problem was still ongoing, and that in July, ERC officials asked VDOT to waive the 60-day processing limit it had imposed on collecting tolls via the E-ZPass system.
[17] After hearing about the issues, Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Lane lambasted ERC for the delays and the plans and attempts to continue collecting the tolls, stating, "This has been going on for eight months, and I'm not convinced they got it fixed yet.
"[17] In a September 19 letter to ERC, Skanska, and Macquarie officers, he demanded that the company formulate a "formal plan to address the deficiencies" in processing the transactions by October 1, or lose the support of VDOT in enforcing any non-EZ Pass related toll collection.