Infrastructure Bill Kickstarts States’ Road Projects

A boost in federal highway money has helped states break ground on new projects, some of which have languished due to a shortage of funding.

Governing By Jared Brey Aug. 27, 2024 

By Jared Brey

In Brief:

• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included $110 billion in new spending on roads and bridges.

• The boost has helped states move forward on construction projects that were stalled from a lack of funding.

• Inflation, especially high in the highway construction sector, has reduced the impact of the bill.

More than two decades after first drawing the project on a map, the Mississippi Department of Transportation broke ground earlier this month on an expansion of State Route 15 in Tippah County, near the state’s northern border with Tennessee.

Transportation planners say the $200 million Ripley Bypass project, which will expand about 10 miles of road from two lanes to four, will ease frequent congestion in the area. State leaders have framed it as an economic development project — a “massive investment [that] will help further solidify Mississippi as a transportation hub for the country,” according to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves.

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