In January, the Secretary of Transportation’s office presented HB2 scoring results to the Commonwealth Transportation Board. A total of 287 applications were scored statewide, requesting more than $7.0 billion. There were 37 applications submitted in the Salem District.
The draft funding scenario identified a total of four projects within or nearby the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg. If the Commonwealth Transportation Board adopts the Six-Year Improvement Program as presented, all four projects will be fully funded over the next six years. All scores and the draft funding scenario are available at virginiahb2.org.
One of the key components of HB2 scoring criteria was linking a local project to a need identified in the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan, VTrans. Commission staff actively participates in the VTrans 2040 process. Two regional forums were held in 2015, April 8th and July 28th in Wytheville. Over the next several months, the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment plans to consolidate needs collected to date, prepare an executive summary, and host a final regional forum to evaluate local/regional needs relative to statewide goals.
Unlike previous versions of VTrans, the 2040 plan will identify specific policies, strategies, and projects. The final regional forum is anticipated to be in April/May 2016. To learn more about the plan update, visit: vtrans.org/2040.asp.
In other regional transportation news, the NRV Passenger Rail Study is now available online here: nrvrc.org/nrvpassengerrailstudy/. The complete document includes more than 160 pages of supporting documentation, including: committees, history, economic impacts, detailed site scoring, public survey, and trip generation data.
For further information please contact Elijah Sharp (esharp@nrvrc.org), 540-639-9313, ext. 210.