Law enforcement officers on motorcycles will be out on interstates in southeast Virginia this week to crack down on speeding and other violations.

Federal highway stimulus funds went to work in Virginia yesterday. A Virginia Department of Transportation contractor began installing guardrails along U.S. 460 in Dinwiddie County. It is the first highway project using some of the state’s $694.5 million in federal economic stimulus money. “We are very pleased to get these first projects started,“ said W. Byron Coburn Jr., VDOT’s state construction engineer.

The Virginia Department of Transportation will advertise about $176 million in paving and bridge projects for construction bids today, the first of the federal highway stimulus work to hit the street in Virginia. An additional $75 million in highway jobs will likely follow next week. “We’re going to be moving them as quickly as we can,“ said Malcolm T. Kerley, VDOT ‘s chief engineer.

Henrico County: Repaving of 9.8 miles of Interstate 295’s southbound lanes between Interstate 64 and U.S. 33, estimated to cost $8.36 million.
  Dinwiddie and Amelia counties: Overlaying of 46.2 miles of U.S. 360 and 460, estimated to cost $2.95 million.
  New Kent County: Replacement of the deck on the U.S. 60 bridge over Toe Ink Swamp, estimated at $550,000.