The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Monday it would provide two low-interest loans totaling more than $97 million to the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board (CBT) for safety improvements to I-81.
The Build America Bureau loans are Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans – a $15 million loan from the Bureau’s Rural Project Initiative (RPI) offered at half the treasury rate and a traditional TIFIA loan for up to $82.6 million. The loans will enable VDOT to finance and expedite its part of the $2.7 billion I-81 Capital Improvement Program.
The highway project will make several improvements along the road in Roanoke County, including adding lanes and replacing bridges. The rural part of the project will extend the acceleration/deceleration and merge diverse areas of the highway, making entering and exiting it safer and more functional.
“The Department applauds Virginia’s efforts to improve safety and reduce delays along the I-81 corridor,” Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg said. “We know rural areas not only have a disproportionately high rate of car crashes—they also often lack the resources to make improvements, which is why the Rural Project Initiative is so important to our broader efforts to reverse the crisis of roadway deaths happening all over the country.”
In 2022, the USDOT launched the National Roadway Safety Strategy to address safety issues on American roads. Bolstered by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s historic level of funding, the USDOT has closed $38.7 billion in TIFIA financings, supporting more than $132.9 billion in infrastructure investments across the country.