I was born in Norfolk, Virginia (VA), and have worked as a personal injury lawyer in Virginia Beach, VA for 23 years. The traffic problems here have really hurt our quality of life recently. A new Virginia state office that will oversee the development of public-private transportation projects across the state may have great influence in Hampton Roads. The Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships, or OTP3, was created on December 10, 2010, but has just officially opened its office in Richmond on June 6 of this year.
“The [Governor] McDonnell administration is committed to delivering much needed infrastructure improvements to the Commonwealth of Virginia across all transportation modes in a safe, efficient, and cost-effective manner,” said Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean T. Connaughton. The new office will be the primary contact point for public-private projects.
According to the Daily Press, private companies have submitted bids for several transportation projects in Hampton Roads. Such projects include the expansion of Norfolk’s Mid-Town and Downtown tunnels, the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and U.S. 460 in between Suffolk and Petersburg.
As a Virginia personal injury lawyer, my experience with countless auto accident cases has taught me that the congested roadways in the Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads area are a major contributing factor to car and motorcycle crashes. I am hopeful that the new OTP3 office will make wise decisions when developing and contracting new transportation projects in Hampton Roads. Although it would have been better if the state of Virginia could just build or repair the roads and bridges itself, the main thing is to get it done before traffic gets worse.
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About the Editors: The Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm, which has offices in Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC), edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as pro bono services.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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