Since 1993, the state has put $270 million of its federal transportation money into 817 “enhancement grant” projects. Only 389 of those popular community-based undertakings, which are supposed to be related to transportation, have been completed. Dealing with multibillion-dollar, recession-driven budget cuts, the Commonwealth Transportation Board yesterday tightened the rules to qualify for the federally mandated enhancement program.

Virginia transportation officials say they will have to slice $851.5 million out of Virginia’s six-year transportation plan, which has already been hit with $3.7 billion in cuts since the spring of 2008. However, the reduction announced yesterday amounts to a slight improvement over the state’s August revenue estimates. Virginia will get something more than $31 million in additional funds for transportation than was forecast.

The Virginia Department of Transportation urges motorists who must travel during heavy rain to follow safe-driving precautions. Motorists can call 511 or visit 511Virginia.org for road-closure information. There is safety information at VirginiaDOT.org, including a video with tips on safe driving in the rain. Updates and general information on hurricanes and storms can be found at VAEmergency.com.

The Virginia Department of Transportation this afternoon is offering these safety guidelines for motorists who must travel during heavy rain.

The state transportation board will have to cut an additional $134 million from the Virginia Department of Transportation’s budget this year and trim the six-year highway plan by $743 million by December.

Plans for a $40 million interchange at Interstate 295 and Meadowville Road in Chesterfield County are moving forward. Today, the county’s Board of Supervisors is expected to approve authorization to enter into a grant agreement with the Federal Highway Administration and a construction agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Goochland: $6 million to widen
U.S. 250 (Broad Street Road).
  Hanover: $4.8 million to replace the bridge over Interstate 95 at Lewistown Road.

The Richmond Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has allocated $20.8 million of federal stimulus money to three priority transportation projects in Chesterfield, Goochland and Hanover counties. “We wanted to get them the money as soon as possible,“ said Chuck Gates, a spokesman for the 28-member planning organization. The group, representing nine local jurisdictions, serves as the federally designated agency responsible for developing regional transportation plans and programs.

Community leaders have been hitting the pavement to raise money to keep the Hatton Ferry running, and they already have enough to operate the ferry this year. “We’re pleased with both the size and the number of contributions,“ said E. Marshall Pryor III, director of Old Dominion National Bank in Scottsville. Pryor, who is leading the fundraising effort, said there have been more than 75 donors.

Layoff notices that started going to about 600 Virginia Department of Transportation employees yesterday primarily affect those who do the work that has been hardest hit by the agency’s budget crunch: construction and planning. Faced with a $2.6 billion revenue shortfall, VDOT has cut about $2 billion in road building from its six-year plan, canceling or delaying 800 projects. The job cuts mostly affect full-time employees whose work is tied to those projects, such as surveying, plan inspection, environmental processing and right-of-way acquisition.

To wide public dismay, Virginia closed 18 of its interstate highway rest areas this week to save money made scarce by the recession. One result of the unpopular closings is that a motorist traveling north from North Carolina on Interstate 85 and Interstate 95 will have to drive 229 miles, after passing the Virginia Welcome Center at the state line, before reaching another public rest area—36 miles into Maryland.

Virginia is the national leader in recession-spawned rest-stop closings, according to a national transportation organization. With orange barrels blocking 18 rest areas yesterday and one more closing planned for Sept. 16, almost half of Virginia’s 42 interstate safety rest areas are being shut. The state is closing more rest stops this year than any state responding to a survey by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Eighteen rest areas that served motorists during the busy summer travel system were idled today over protests from tourism and trucking advocates.

The Virginia Department of Transportation has received a $1.2 million federal job-training grant for its Wounded Veteran Internship Program. The funds from the economic stimulus package are aimed at providing on-the-job training in transportation, engineering or construction for underrepresented or disadvantaged people, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.

Sebastion nosed the water bucket as Hillary Edwards-Burdett leaned into the trailer to water the stallion at the soon-to-be-closed Ladysmith rest area on Interstate 95. “That’d mess us up big time,“ the horse trainer from Marietta, S.C., said about the coming closures. “We stop for the horses, to give them water. Every two to four hours, we’re pulling off the highway.