Delegate Oder Congratulates the Virginia Department of Transportation on meeting the Requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Richmond, VA – Delegate Oder today congratulated Governor McDonnell and Secretary Sean Connaughton on their meeting the requirements outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Virginia received $694.5 million in highway federal stimulus dollars that they were obligated to dedicate to transportation projects by March 2, 2010. The Virginia Department of Transportation prioritized the stimulus money to address deficient pavements, structurally deficient bridges and much-needed highway capacity and rail improvements to improve the economic competitiveness of the Commonwealth and offer safe, reliable transportation options for all Virginians.

“During the previous Administration, I became a vocal critic when Virginia was declared “dead last” in spending the federal stimulus money and we were in danger of losing our allocation,” said Delegate Oder. “However, as a result of the hard work of the VDOT staff, I now understand that Virginia has met the requirement to have its allocation obligated by March 2, 2010 and we are in a position to receive additional dollars from other states who did not meet this requirement.”

Virginia’s allocations included 68 projects obligated by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) and 54 projects obligated by the metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). Of the 68 CTB projects, $413.7 million in work on 45 projects has already been advertised for bidding, and $287.1 million of work for 40 projects has already been awarded to contractors. Of the 54 MPO projects, $2.8 million has been advertised for two projects, and seven projects with a value of $6.8 million have been awarded.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law by President Obama on Feb.17, 2009.

Virginia received a total of $694.5 million in highway stimulus funding.
Virginia has met every deadline and requirement set forth in the ARRA legislation.
$117.8 million of this stimulus funding will be for projects selected by the state’s five large urban metropolitan planning organizations.
$101.6 million is targeted to improve or replace structurally deficient and functionally obsolete bridges and culverts.
$142.5 million is targeted toward repaving or overlaying roads in Virginia.
$76.9 million is targeted to fund improvements necessary near expanding military installations supporting 21,400 jobs.
$37.3 million is targeted to improve Virginia’s rail network and access to the Port of Virginia.
$20.8 million is targeted to be used for enhancement projects.
$197.4 million is targeted to advance much-needed congestion-relief projects including building new roadways.