State highway officials said Tuesday that they have withdrawn from consideration 56 road and bridge projects that had been scheduled for an April bid opening because of “continuing uncertainty of federal-aid reimbursements” through the federal Highway Trust Fund.
Those projects are worth more than $112 million, including $50 million authorized by the Arkansas Highway Commission for its 2015 highway overlay program, Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department officials said in a statement. In total, 61 projects worth $162 million have been withdrawn from 2015 bid openings, the department said.
Since December, the department has evaluated scheduled federally funded projects before each bid letting to ensure sufficient state funds are available when federal reimbursements are reduced are delayed.
“Now that we have cancelled our overlay program for this year, there are few areas in the State that are not affected by projects withdrawn from the April bid letting,” Highway Department Director Scott Bennett said, noting that the decision reduces construction jobs and the economic opportunities that attend them.
Current authorization for the federal Highway Trust Fund expires in May, and state highway officials said the U.S. Congress “must act soon” to solve the problem.
“The reality is that over $160 million has not found its way into our State’s economy this year,” added Bennett. “Meanwhile, our State’s highway infrastructure has suffered severe damage from a harsh winter weather season. The lack of an overlay program is going to make repairing the damage that has occurred even more challenging.”
A complete list of the 56 projects is available here.
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- http://www.arkansas…">56 road projects at risk
