When lawmakers approved a gas tax and fee increase last year, ITD Director Brian Ness said, “We had 27 projects ready to go. There are few agencies in the nation that could have acted so quickly, and I am proud of our employees for making this possible. They did an outstanding job.” In addition to those 27 road and bridge projects, ITD selected 17 projects that will be funded by a general-fund surplus-eliminator bill that lawmakers approved, adding $54 million in additional projects. “These projects will be bid and awarded as soon as we receive spending authority,” Ness told JFAC.

“Last year’s revenue increase was a good start,” he said. “This will slow the deterioration of our infrastructure, but older roads and bridges cannot last forever.” The revenue increases approved by lawmakers last year came to $96.7 million. Ness said that reduced the state’s annual road and bridge maintenance shortfall by about a third, from $262 million to $165.3 million. “That is just to keep the existing infrastructure in the condition it is in today,” he noted.

Said Ness, “The 2015 revenue increase is helping ITD slow the deterioration of Idaho’s aging roads and bridges. It is also creating jobs, improving safety, and promoting commerce.”