Potomac Tunnel May Replace White’s Ferry

Frustrated by deadlock in the negotiations among private landowners and officials from Montgomery County and Loudon County, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) today announced his support for a tunnel to replace White’s Ferry. In a sign of future interstate bipartisanship, Maryland Gov.-elect Wes Moore (D) said he was “all ears” when asked about the project. “It’ll be top of my agenda with Glenn.”

Youngkin’s endorsement of Virginia DOT’s proposal to build a tunnel spanning from Virginia Rt. 15 in Loudon to Maryland Rt. 107 in Montgomery came in a speech to the American Conservative Union in Richmond. Dubbed “White’s Potomac Tunnel”, the 1.65-mile, four-lane underground passage would be the longest tunnel in either state and cost an estimated $4.8 billion.

“It goes under all the disputed properties and farms, under the river, up to a depth of 180 feet below ground,” Fletcher Tubiason of engineering firm Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff told The Montgonion. The firm, best known for Boston’s successful “Big Dig” project, did the engineering studies for the VDOT proposal.

Funding for the project could come from regional gasoline tax increases. “If we could reach parity with Maryland on gas taxes, it would generate the necessary funding in less than five years,” Youngkin told ACU members. Maryland’s gasoline tax is $0.427 per gallon and Virginia’s is $0.28.

White's Ferry was the last remaining cable ferry service that carried cars, bicycles, and pedestrians across the Potomac River. It transported approximately 600 customers daily until closing in 2020 following a dispute between landowners on opposite sides of the river.

An attorney for White’s Ferry said the proposed tunnel name violates her client’s trademark and every measure would be taken to protect it in court.