Six-year plan approved

Item by Chris Graham
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The Commonwealth Transportation Board has approved a $10.1 billion six-year transportation program that is $1.1 billion leaner and meaner due to the state’s ongoing roads-funding crisis.

“Our focus for this year’s program is not on adding new projects, rather it is about making difficult choices in the face of a $1.1 billion revenue shortfall,” Secretary of Transportation Pierce R. Homer said today. “Because of falling revenues and a slowing economy, we must focus only on safety and projects that we can advance through the pipeline to make the most of the funds we have available. The majority of the projects in the plan are targeted to much-needed bridges, pavement rehabilitation projects and safety programs. We have to make tough decisions about what projects we can afford.”

The six-year plan approved by the CTB today includes $7.9 billion for highway construction and $2.2 billion for public transportation and rail over the next six years. Nearly 600 projects that had been included in earlier versions of the six-year plan had to be delayed or outright removed due to funding issues.

Lists of projects delayed or removed from the program are posted on the Virginia Department of Transportation Web site at http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/syp-default.asp.