CBS19

Over the next five years, Virginia is getting hundreds of millions of dollars to address highway bridge needs.

The $536.8 million is coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s new Bridge Replacement, Rehabilitation, Preservation, Protection and Construction Program.

According to a release, this was made possible by the federal infrastructure bill that became law in November.

The Federal Highway Administration administers this program, which is the single largest investment dedicated to bridge projects since the construction of the interstate highway system.

Across the country, $5.3 billion dollars will be invested into bridges over the next five years.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is thrilled to launch this program to fix thousands of bridges across the country, the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate highway system,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Modernizing America’s bridges will help improve safety, support economic growth, and make people’s lives better in every part of the country, across rural, suburban, urban, and tribal communities.” 

Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger says Virginia is getting more than $107.4 million for ridge projects for fiscal year 2022, the first round of funding from this program.

“More than 500 bridges across Virginia are in need of repair. Such an urgent issue of public safety cannot be ignored, and this major investment in Virginia’s infrastructure must be used by VDOT and the incoming Youngkin Administration to make improvements as soon as possible,” said Spanberger. “This funding will allow our Commonwealth to fix bridges in poor condition, help prevent congestion, increase weight restrictions, and make our roads safer for drivers and first responders. Additionally, it will help create and sustain good-paying construction jobs throughout our area, while keeping our physical infrastructure competitive.”

In Virginia alone, there are about 575 bridges that are in need of repairs that this funding will toward.

“We’re thrilled to announce this record amount of funding to fix aging bridges across Virginia,” said U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. “Modernizing bridges will improve safety and support economic growth in every corner of the Commonwealth. Today’s announcement is one more reason we were proud to support the once-in-a-generation infrastructure investment that is improving lives and livelihoods across the country.”

Across the country, this program is expected to help repair about 15,000 bridges, including ones on Tribal lands and “off-system” bridges that are locally-owned acolytes that are not on the federal-aid highway system.

For more information on the Bridge Formula Program, click here or here.