advertisement

---

Earlier this week, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed legislation that will provide $4 billion for the state's road, rail and transit networks, and fund more than 900 projects over the next three years.

The legislation uses several financing mechanisms that will enable Virginia to take advantage of historically low interest rates on bonds and construction bids that are coming in well below estimates, Virginia officials said in a prepared statement.

The measure also will create a new Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank, funded with $283 million from a fiscal-year 2010 surplus and savings from the Virginia Department of Transportation’s performance audit, to provide low-interest loans and grants to localities, transportation authorities and private-sector partners for transportation projects. The McDonnell administration plans to put $1 billion in the bank though a number of mechanisms over the next three years.

Projects to be funded under the new law include work at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Hampton Roads Transit light rail and a Virginia Railway Express extension into Spotsylvania County.

The legislation represents the “most significant” investment in Virginia’s transportation infrastructure in a generation, McDonnell said.

“This common sense legislation takes advantage of previously authorized and innovative new financing mechanisms at a time when interest rates and construction costs are at near historic lows and Virginians are in dire need of jobs,” he said.