AASHTO Journal - FHWA Issues $10M in Emergency Funds to VDOT

The Federal Highway Administration recently released $10 million in Emergency Relief funding to the Virginia Department of Transportation to support infrastructure repair work stemming from damage caused by Hurricane Helene.

[Above photo by Virginia DOT]

The agency said in a statement that the storm damaged roads and bridges in southwestern Virginia, causing several road washouts as well. In particular, one mile of Route 58 near Damascus is closed to traffic where the storm wiped out the road. A 30-mile detour is in place until the road is re-opened, which affects residents and travel within the state.

VDOT said it plans to use those emergency relief funds primarily to restore and reopen the one-mile section of Route 58 that is currently washed out and on other sections of the route that require repair.

FHWA noted that this “quick release” of emergency funding to Virginia follows awards to three states – North Carolina, Tennessee, and South Carolina – to also help repair key transportation infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Helene damage.

U.S. Department of Transportation and FHWA officials have also been touring areas of all three states significantly affected by the storm.

For example, USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured Western North Carolina with Governor Roy Cooper (D) on October 17 for a briefing on recovery efforts; viewing damaged areas in Asheville and Canton and visited a damaged section of I-40.

Concurrently, the governor unveiled an initial $3.9 billion state-funded aid proposal to begin rebuilding critical infrastructure, homes, businesses, schools, and farms damaged by the hurricane. The North Carolina Department of Transportation is also reaching out to businesses to help restore Western NC’s infrastructure destroyed by the hurricane.

“We are going to need help from qualified businesses with many skill sets,” said NCDOT Secretary Joey Hopkins in a statement. “There is debris to be moved, roads and bridges to be designed, fixed or rebuilt, as well as other types of contract work to be done. We’re going to need a lot of help to rebuild Western North Carolina.”

Meanwhile, Kristin White, FHWA’s acting administrator, recently examined damaged roads and bridges in South Carolina accompanied by SCDOT Secretary Justin Powell, state legislators, and others.

“We are committed to supporting South Carolinians with the funding and resources needed for ongoing recovery,” White said in a statement. “FHWA’s initial $2 million in emergency relief funding is a down payment on a long-term investment to help rebuild critical roads and infrastructure to connect communities.”

“Hurricane Helene brought widespread damage to our state, but here in South Carolina we are working together to recover from the storm,” Powell noted – adding that SCDOT, to date, has reopened more than 850 roads and bridges closed due to storm-related damage and is expediting emergency repair plans to safely reopen the remainder.