An analysis of 10 highway projects funded by Governor Bob McDonnell’s 2011 transportation program shows that these projects will bring a lot of money to the Commonwealth. The projects will provide nearly 4,000 direct jobs during their construction, almost $200 million in personal income and about $15 million in state and local tax revenues and other benefits to Virginia.

“The money construction firms and their workers spend in a community during the project, on food, lodging and other goods, benefits others in the locales. Once completed, these new projects will help to improve travel time and reduce crashes, making travel safer. They also will streamline transport of goods and services, thus increasing economic development,” said Sean T. Connaughton, Secretary of Transportation.

According to the analysis, the active traffic management project on Interstate 66 in Fairfax and Prince William counties will use changeable message signs, radar detectors and closed-circuit cameras to allow the region’s transportation operation center to detect and respond promptly to incidents by opening shoulder lanes and/or changing the posted speed. During the project’s installation, the economists found it would provide 43 jobs over two years.

In the growing Louisa County area, the improvements to the Interstate 64 interchange at U.S. 15 will employ an innovative “diverging diamond” design at a fraction of the cost of building a new cloverleaf interchange, while preserving the remaining service life of the existing overpass to improve traffic flow in this congested area. Analysis of this project’s economic benefits found it would provide almost 90 jobs over four years.

The other projects in this economic review include a relocation for Erickson Road in Harrisonburg.

“This review of a cross section of new VDOT road projects clearly illustrates that putting such work on the street in turn puts Virginians to work and returns other financial benefits back to the commonwealth,” said Governor McDonnell