“The bipartisan infrastructure law is continuing to deliver for Virginia’s communities,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger.
With billions already on the way to Virginia since its enactment in 2021, President Biden’s infrastructure law continues to help the state’s aging roads with new improvements planned for Hampton Roads and Stafford County.
Virginia Beach will get $19 million in federal funding to address flooding issues along a road that connects military installations, agricultural lands and wildlife refuges, and Virginia’s Tidewater and Chesapeake region will get $5.4 million to install a weather and traffic monitoring system to help with emergency evacuations.
Further north, Stafford County is set to get $10.2 million in federal funding to raise and realign part of a road where frequent flooding blocks drivers from accessing it.
The funding for the projects is coming from a federal grant program created by the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Biden signed into law in 2021.
“The bipartisan infrastructure law is continuing to deliver for Virginia’s communities,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger in an April 10 release.
As of April 2024, there has been $10 billion in Biden’s infrastructure law funding announced in Virginia for 353 projects, with $6.9 billion for transportation improvements and $1.8 billion for high speed internet.
“After Donald Trump spent four years turning Infrastructure Week into a punchline and left office with the worst jobs record in modern history, Joe Biden has created more than 327,000 jobs in Virginia that Trump’s policies would threaten if elected,” Caroline Stonecipher, a Biden-Harris 2024 campaign spokesperson, said in an email. “From funding much-needed improvements to I-64 to investing $35 million in a new terminal at Dulles Airport, President Biden is delivering in communities across the commonwealth where Trump failed.”
The Virginia Beach road funding will help raise a 1.5-mile stretch of Pungo Ferry Road and include paved, graded shoulders and bike paths.
The Stafford County road funding will allow for the realignment of a roughly half-mile portion of Brooke Road from Loblolly Lane to Maplewood Drive to move the road out of the floodplain. The roadway stretches along Accokeek Creek, a major tributary to the Potomac River. The goal is to minimize the frequent flooding that occurs there when heavy rain makes the road impassable and isolates about 600 residents.
“Once obtained, (the funding) will play a crucial role in addressing the persistent flooding issues at the ‘S’ curve on Brooke Road,” Meg Bohmke, chairwoman of Stafford County’s Board of Supervisors said in a press release. “It will also enable the county to implement a sustainable solution, ensuring the safety and accessibility of the residents living beyond that point.”
This story was updated to include a statement from the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign.
