Virginia receives $57.3 million ‘bonus’ for transportation

Published September 16, 2013 by Jessica Sabbath

Virginia has received $57.3 million in federal funds for transportation that originally were allocated to other states.

The Virginia Department of Transportation plans to use the money for paving projects around the commonwealth, including $16.7 million for interstates, $25.6 million for primary roads and $13.7 million for secondary roads. VDOT also wants to use $1.3 million for bridge painting and preventative maintenance.

VDOT will make these recommendations to the Commonwealth Transportation Board later this month, which has final approval on how money is spent on transportation projects.

Each September, the Federal Highway Administration reviews each state’s ability to commit allocated highway dollars as the federal fiscal year ends. States that cannot use the federal funding must return the money, which is redistributed to states that can obligate all of their federal money if they have eligible projects ready to move forward.