First Round of U.S. DOT & Federal Highway Administration Bridge Investments will Support Bridge Projects Across the Commonwealth, Which is Home to 577 Bridges in Need of Repair

HENRICO, V.A. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today announced an award of more than $107 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) for bridge repair and replacement across Virginia, which is home to approximately 577 bridges in need of repair.

Through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), USDOT launched the largest bridge formula program in American history — made possible by the bipartisan infrastructure law, which Spanberger helped negotiate and voted to pass late last year. In the program’s first round of funding, Virginia was awarded $107,424,998 for bridge projects in fiscal year 2022.

“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. For these reasons, I was proud to be one of the bipartisan infrastructure law’s strongest supporters in Congress — and I am even prouder to see this funding begin delivering results directly to the people of Virginia.”

In November 2021, Spanberger attended the White House signing ceremony for the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. After strongly advocating for this legislation and highlighting the benefits of the bill for Central Virginia, Spanberger had voted to pass the physical infrastructure legislation with a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House earlier that month.

For a list of potentially eligible bridges, click here. For information about the USDOT Bridge Formula Program, click here.

BACKGROUND

According to USDOT, the Bridge Formula Program is expected to help repair approximately 15,000 bridges nationwide. In addition to providing funds to states like Virginia to replace, rehabilitate, preserve, protect, and construct highway bridges, the Bridge Formula Program has dedicated funding for Tribal transportation facility bridges as well as “off-system” bridges — locally owned facilities which are those not on the federal-aid highway system.

Specifically, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes an incentive for states to direct the new Bridge Formula Program funds to off-system bridges owned by a county, city, town or other local agency. While states normally must match federal funding with up to 20 percent state or local funding, the guidance issued today notes that federal funds can be used for 100 percent of the cost of repairing or rehabilitating such locally owned off-system bridges. Specific to the FHWA, the bipartisan infrastructure law provides more than $350 billion over five fiscal years for surface transportation programs.

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