Chao Joins Local Officials to Launch Northern Virginia TIGER Project
Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao joined elected officials and transportation representatives to launch a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant project in Loudoun County, Va., on March 28.
Today is a great day for Loudoun. We know relieving traffic congestion in our rapidly growing community is a top priority.
Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.)
TIGER grants support infrastructure projects for state and local government agencies. The county received a $25 million TIGER grant to complete a segment of road that will connect state Route 7 and U.S. Route 50. The road, called the Northstar Boulevard, will serve as a north-south connector between the routes, which run parallel to each other throughout the county.
Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), who represents Loudoun County, said the four-lane road will ease the congestion that constituents have grown accustomed to in the area.
Chao (left) and Comstock (right) listen as NTVA Vice Chairman Phyllis Randall addresses the audience. (Monica Backmon/Northern Virginia Transportation Authority)
“I want to thank Secretary Chao for working with us and recognizing the need for this very competitive grant for Loudoun County,” Comstock said. “Today is a great day for Loudoun. We know relieving traffic congestion in our rapidly growing community is a top priority.”
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Chao and Comstock were joined by representatives of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, a regional entity that plans long-term projects and crafts transportation policy. Relieving congestion is one of the authority’s main goals. The group has funded 79 multimodal transportation projects, valued at more than $990 million, since 2013.
Nohe
“As chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, I am pleased to see federal support for Northstar Boulevard,” NVTA Chairman Martin Nohe said. “Located in the North-South Corridor of Statewide Significance, Northstar Boulevard is a major thoroughfare that not only facilitates access to numerous employment centers in the corridor but also provides access to one of the economic engines of the commonwealth, Dulles International Airport. The TIGER grant for Northstar Boulevard is an investment in the quality of life for Northern Virginians and the economic vitality of the commonwealth of Virginia.”
Congress tripled the funding of TIGER grants to $1.5 billion in the spending bill President Donald Trump signed March 23. Trump originally proposed cutting the program completely.
