Gov. Terry McAuliffe: Road Improvements Enhance Virginia’s Freight Corridors
ARLINGTON, Va. — A recent federal grant aimed at improving traffic mobility along Interstate 95 and the port system at Norfolk will help position Virginia as a premier freight corridor on the East Coast in the coming years, the state’s governor told regional road builders here on Dec. 16.
“We have the deepest port on the East Coast,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), said at the Metropolitan Washington Road and Transportation Builders Association holiday luncheon. “Getting that port up to where it is and moving the goods up to the breadbasket of America will take roads and rail to do it. And I understand that.”
While other states scramble to deepen their ports to be able to receive super-large Panamax vessels, the Norfolk International Terminals is already deep enough. Also, the Virginia Department of Transportation will use a grant of $165 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation announced earlier this year for its Atlantic Gateway project.
The $1.4 billion Gateway project is meant to alleviate bottlenecks along the I-95 corridor in Northern Virginia. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, one in every four bridges require maintenance or replacement in Virginia.
Shortly after Congress passed a fiscal 2017 short-term funding bill Dec. 9, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, which works in partnership with MWRTBA, called on its members to urge federal lawmakers to boost funding for large-scale infrastructure projects by ensuring the long-term sustainability of the federal Highway Trust fund.
“Simply maintaining the status quo, as Congress has done in the last two bills, will not create jobs or boost the U.S. economy,” wrote Mark Holan, editorial director of ARTBA on the group’s website. Over the years, road builders and other transportation groups have called on federal officials to boost funding for state and local infrastructure repairs.
