The state Transportation Commission approved the five-year transportation improvement program Tuesday that projects a lack of funding after the second year. Department of Transportation Planner John Ranney says the plan may be open to more changes, depending on construction costs.
Ranney says the project cost estimates are based on the most recent cost estimates — which he says have increased dramatically recently. Ranney says the increases caused many projects to be rescheduled or deferred. The five year plan is updated each year, and Ranney says the commission will keep an eye on the costs as the projects move forward.
Ranney says if more funding doesn’t become available, or the current funding erodes, they’ll have to make adjustments. Ranney says the commission plans to approve the next plan by July of 2007. The highway portion of the plan will cost approximately two-billon dollars. The D-O-T says in the last six years the miles of pavement graded as below an acceptable condition has risen from one-thousand-968 to two-thousand-836 — an increase of 44 percent. For a complete look at the plan, surf to the D-O-T website at:www.iowadot.gov.
Related web sites:
D-O-T website