ALDOT: continuing resolution wipes IIJA 2% escalation, agency reports robust letting pace and ATRIP awards

Ed Austin, Alabama Department of Transportation, told the Joint Interim Committees that Congress passed a continuing resolution for federal fiscal 2025 that kept funding at fiscal 2024 levels and prevented the 2% annual escalation included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). "We have started the last several fiscal years under a continuing resolution," Austin said. "This year...they ended up passing a continuing resolution for the entire year."

The lack of the IIJA escalation will reduce Alabama's surface-transportation dollars by about $20,000,000 to $25,000,000 for fiscal 2025, Austin said. He also noted that congressional directed spending (earmarks) that had been proposed for fiscal 2025 were not approved because lawmakers did not finalize the budget agreement.

The funding update was paired with a review of ALDOT's letting and grant activity. ALDOT has 11 scheduled lettings per fiscal year; through five lettings in fiscal 2025 the department has awarded 135 projects with a bid total just under $582,000,000 and has let work in 59 of the state's 67 counties. For comparative context, ALDOT said it averages about 205 projects and roughly $850,000,000 in bids per year; the five lettings to date account for roughly two-thirds of a typical year's dollar volume.

Austin and Joe McBrien, ALDOT…