The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) just keeps on going.
Adopted in autumn 2021, the law has allocated a whopping $660 billion to be distributed over five years to fund a wide range of infrastructure improvements. From air to sea to rail to roads and even local multi-use trails, Virginia is one of the states and municipalities receiving long-overdue infrastructure improvements and funding to connect communities.
In order to receive the funds, eligible municipalities must apply for a new funding round every year until the end of the program.
Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation excellent According to the press release, $427 million will be made available to modernize 245 airports in 39 states for the 2024 fiscal year.
Through BIL’s Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIG) program, airports are expected to receive $25 billion this year to expand terminals and runways, improve air traffic or support other initiatives.
In Virginia, this means that 45 airports have more than 76 million US dollars for repairs. These include large airports such as Washington Dulles International ($22 million) and Richmond International Airport ($6.8 million), as well as smaller airports such as Tangier Island ($113,000) and Chesterfield’s Executive ($294,000).
“We will use the current allocation for a taxiway project,” said John Rutledge, chief operating officer of Richmond International Airport. “They are taxiways E and C. They are two connecting taxiways from an airline’s tarmac to a runway.”
A runway is essentially where aircraft park and often where passengers board. Rutledge said this infrastructure upgrade is not just a cosmetic solution, but actually a safety issue.
“The FAA says that a direct connection from a taxiway to a runway is not possible because a pilot could fly directly from the taxiway onto the runway and cause a collision,” he explained. “This project will simply relocate those two intersections.”
Rutledge said construction on the project will begin within the next 60 to 90 days.
The nearly $300,000 in grants for Chesterfield County’s smaller administrative airport will go toward expanding the runways.
“So it’s a 500-foot extension that takes us from a 5,800-foot runway to a 6,300-foot runway,” said John Neal, director of general services for Chesterfield County Airport. “The main benefit is that the planes that are departing will be able to take off with a full tank of fuel. They can’t do that now because of the weight factor when they take off. So it gives them a little more flexibility and a longer flight range.”
Neal said the expansion is far from complete, so current AIG funds will be used to acquire the easement of an adjacent property that is currently overgrown with brush, trees and natural gas pipelines. After that, they will apply for additional funds to complete the project.
The hiking trails in Virginia and DC also receive funding
In another round of grants created by the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Greenway on the East Coast just received a grant of over $70 million through a program of the U.S. Department of Transportation called “Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity” or RAISE.
“The East Coast Greenway is a 3,000-mile multi-use trail connecting Maine to Florida that is currently under development and construction,” said Elliott Caldwell, manager for the sections that run through Virginia and Washington, D.C. “We are about a third of the way through.”
The Greenway is an alliance, Caldwell said, that helps communities apply for grants like RAISE, writing letters of support and working with local agencies on design. All of this is done with the goal of connecting these trails to the Greenway.
“I think jurisdictions like being part of the network because it brings visitors to their trails,” said Caldwell, who added that the current Fall Line Trail project is a good example of jurisdictional cooperation.
For DC and the surrounding areas, this means that construction of a project called New York Avenue Bridge and Lincoln Connector Trail Projectwhich is 2.9 kilometers long and costs 25 million dollars. The connection is part of an even larger project, according to Caldwell.
“The Anacostia River Trail, which runs through Maryland and DC, Prince George County and into DC, runs under New York Avenue, which becomes US Route 50,” he said. “And the DC Department of Transportation is going to rehabilitate that bridge over the Anacostia River.”
The project includes a new shared path in the Fort Lincoln neighborhood of Washington to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail.
“We’re talking about tens of thousands of people who will have better access to the Anacostia River,” Caldwell said.
Further south in Virginia, over $5 million is being spent on building over two miles of the Suffolk Seaboard Coastline Trail.
“The city of Suffolk has been working on a rail trail for years,” Caldwell said. “The money they got for this section is crucial because it goes through some wetlands, so there will be some boardwalks there as well.”
When completed, the Seaboard Coastline Trail will encompass 20 miles of former railroad crossings and connect parts of Portsmouth and Chesapeake to Isle of Wight County. It is also part of a broader trail network that connects to the South Hampton Roads Trail, which connects Suffolk to Norfolk and then to Virginia Beach, Caldwell said.
