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The Petersburg Arches: Who paid what, and where did the cash come from?

Posted at 6:45 PM, Aug 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-28 12:37:01-04

PETERSBURG, Va. -- The project to install red arches on the Washington Street Bridge over Interstate 95 in Petersburg has been completed. Lining the side of the bridge and lighting up at night, the arches are designed to complement other investments in the area, according to the Cameron Foundation, who helped fund part of the project.

But some citizens want to know exactly how much money was spent on the arches, and who contributed to the fund.

CBS 6 has learned the funding was split three ways between three organizations:

  • VDOT contributed $700,000
  • The Cameron Foundation contributed $675,000
  • The City of Petersburg contributed $624,000

Barb Rudolph, who heads the Government watch dog group Clean Sweep Petersburg, spent days going over past City Council Meetings.

"[The arches were] part of the package of financial changes that were made by the Robert Bobb Group back in 2016," Rudolph said.

At the time, Petersburg was essentially broke,  so the Robert Bobb Group was brought in to help the city recover financially.

"I wish it had been done in a more transparent way," Rudolph said.

The Petersburg Gateway Project is one of three partially-funded projects by the Cameron Foundation. The other two are located in Hopewell and Prince George County. The money spent by the City of Petersburg came out of the Capital Improvements budget.

Citizens are also concerned with the gaps between a few of the arches, but the city stresses that the gaps are just expansion joints used to keep stress off the arches.

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