Stimulus to fund work on bridges, roads

More than a dozen Nelson County bridges and roads are on a Virginia Department of Transportation project list for $4.5 million in federal stimulus money set aside for replacement and repaving.

The funds are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, without which the projects would not be finished, said Kevin of the Virginia Department of Transportaion.

“These have been projects we have wanted to do for quite some time now, but have had no money,” Wright said. “If not for the stimulus money, these would not be considered for quite some time. We normally only get to one a year on average with the money we have, so this is a big boost to our bridge program.”

The projects were chosen from citizen suggestions that were submitted to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s Web site, http://www.stimulus.virginia.gov.

Wright said the bridge projects that are proposed, which include two over the Rockfish River along Va. 6, will be refurbished.

“Most of them are in excellent shape underneath the bridge, we just need to replace what we call the ‘superstructure,’” Wright said. “This means we will take the riding surface and steel beams that support the deck off and replace them and the guardrails.”

“This will renew these bridges and should make them adequate for many years to come,” he said.

The list in Nelson for proposed projects also includes Myndus Road over Muddy Creek near Lovingston, Norwood Road over Rock Cliff Creek near Wingina and Pharsalia Road over a branch of the Tye River near Massies Mill.

The proposed projects meet all the federal requirements for the funds and the commonwealth’s priorities for replacing structurally deficient bridges and completing delayed construction projects, a statement last week from Rep. Tom Perriello’s office.

The 5th District, which includes Nelson County, is slotted to receive more than $20 million in stimulus funds for these projects.

The project list must receive final approval from the Commonwealth Transportation Board.