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 assistant chief engineer, gave details on contractor prequalification, advertising and award procedures. McBrien said some projects — including resurfacing — can take up to a year and a half to reach advertising, while larger jobs involving right-of-way, utilities or environmental clearances can take several years. "Even a resurfacing job can take a year and a half to get done," McBrien said. He described the prime-contractor prequalification process (financial statement, equipment and experience questionnaire), the statutory bid limit tied to a contractor's net worth, the federal requirement that a prime perform at least 30 percent of work, and the department's requirement for 100 percent performance and payment bonds on contracts.

McBrien also summarized ALDOT advertising requirements: state law requires local newspaper advertisement for public-works projects exceeding $100,000, while the agency's federal advertisements are posted on ALDOT's website after Federal Highway Administration authorization. He said ALDOT now notifies all proposal holders of changes during the advertising period; the agency typically posts notices about three and a half to four weeks before letting, and the federal minimum advertising period is three weeks. ALDOT staff run a bid-review process after openings to check signatures, bonds and DBE (disadvantaged business enterprise) utilization documents; McBrien said a bidder must submit a DBE utilization plan within five calendar days when a DBE requirement applies or ALDOT cannot award the contract under federal rules.

Austin reviewed ALDOT grant programs administered through Rebuild Alabama. ATRIP 2 (a Rebuild Alabama program) awarded its sixth-year cycle in late January; to date ALDOT has awarded $276,000,000 in ATRIP funds across six years, which brought roughly $116,000,000 in additional sponsor funding for an almost $400,000,000 total impact. The last ATRIP round included 24 projects for roughly $40,000,000; ALDOT said Governor Ivey will visit two recently awarded sites — an access-management project in Demopolis on U.S. 80 and an intersection improvement on State Route 53 in Limestone County — in the next several weeks. ALDOT also said its annual rebuild grant program has made 219 awards over five years totaling about $55,000,000 in Rebuild money.

ALDOT staff said they have amended the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) multiple times this year and reminded committee members the STIP is available on ALDOT's website where users can filter content for specific projects. Committee members asked about the declining number of smaller projects in recent years and whether large federally funded capacity projects (which have high federal matching percentages) explain some of the dollar spikes; ALDOT confirmed larger projects and higher unit prices have concentrated available funds.

Committee members asked about pricing trends and prioritization. McBrien said bid prices had risen 15–20 percent in recent years but showed signs of stabilizing in recent months; Austin said the IIJA baseline increase plus the 2 percent escalation previously allowed ALDOT to accept larger capacity projects. Several committee chairs indicated they want more technical briefings from ALDOT on bridge prioritization and paving methodology outside of session.

The presentation included questions about ALDOT's contract administration and the department's enforcement options when bidders make calculation errors or miss required documentation. McBrien said state law locks bids to unit prices and that a contractor can forfeit its bid bond; he said ALDOT occasionally cancels low bidders who fail to furnish required documents.

ALDOT officials took questions from lawmakers before the committee moved on. The department will hold a letting this coming Friday with 18 projects scheduled and staff said they continue monthly STIP amendments and will provide further technical briefings to the committee if requested.