The Build America Bureau recently awarded the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) with two Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans totaling up to $89.7 million.
The loans are for up to $47.6 million and $42.1 million respectively with low interest rates made possible by the TIFIA Rural Project Initiative. The loan package will fund capacity and safety upgrades along 325 rural miles of I-81, a route that carries 43 percent of Virginia’s interstate truck traffic.
“As a vital commercial corridor not only for Virginia but the entire east coast, additional travel lanes, new bridges and interchange improvements are enhancing safety and reducing congestion on I-81,” Virginia Transportation Secretary Nick Donohue said. “The TIFIA loans will help Virginia stretch its transportation dollars and continue building the interstate corridor all travelers deserve.”
Work will include replacing the I-81 northbound bridge over I-77, replacing aging bridges over Peppers Ferry Road, extending exit ramps in Wythe County, adding merge lanes around Wytheville, and adding dedicated truck climbing lanes in Washington County and Augusta County.
The project is part of Virginia’s $4 billion I-81 Corridor Improvement Program that is scheduled for completion in late 2035.
The Build America Bureau lends federal funds to qualified public and private borrowers.