The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) last week presented the Iowa Transportation Commission with its draft FY 2022-2026 Iowa Transportation Improvement Program.
The program documents investments in Iowa’s multimodal transportation system covering aviation, public transit, railroads, trails, and highways. The Commission and the Iowa DOT say they remain committed to providing modern, safe, and efficient transportation services to the public. The Commission is currently scheduled to consider approval of the program at its meeting to be held on June 8.
A major component of the program is the highway program that documents programmed investments in the Primary Highway System for the next five years. For FY 2022-2026, approximately $3.6 billion is forecast to be available for right of way and highway construction.
The state says while the impacts of COVID-19 on state road funding were much lower than anticipated, the Commission still had to take action to balance highway program investments across the five-year period. While this resulted in the delay of a few projects, no projects were removed from the program. In addition, these actions allowed the Commission to increase targeted funding for safety investments every year of the program and increase pavement rehabilitation work by $30 million in FY 2022.
The highway section was developed to achieve several objectives. The Commission’s primary investment objective remains stewardship, including safety, maintenance, and modernization of Iowa’s existing highway system. More than $2.8 billion is programmed in FY 2022 through FY 2026 for the modernization of Iowa’s existing highway system and for enhanced highway safety features.
The program includes more than $1.2 billion of investments in Iowa’s state-owned bridges. The number of poor condition bridges on the state highway system has been reduced from 256 in 2006 to 35 in 2020 as a result of the Commission’s emphasis to improve the condition of Iowa’s bridges.
------------
SOURCE: Iowa DOT
