Agency of Transportation outlines $325 million formula target, sequencing approach and constraints for 10‑year program
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Summary
Agency of Transportation Chief Engineer Jeremy Reed briefed the House Transportation Committee on a 10‑year project sequencing exercise built around a $325 million formula construction target (roughly $275M federal, $50M state match), prioritizing bridges, paving, roadway and safety while noting limits from matching restrictions and emergency relief dollars.
The Agency of Transportation told the House Transportation Committee on Feb. 10 that it has structured a 10‑year project sequencing exercise around a $325,000,000 formula construction target, intended to represent predictable federal formula funds plus state match.
Jeremy Reed, the agency's chief engineer, described the document as a sequencing schedule that slots asset-driven projects against projected revenues and cost assumptions and emphasized that it is not a formal long-range transportation plan submitted to federal partners. "So this represents formula money dedicated to construction projects," Reed said in the briefing.
Reed described the program-level breakdown the agency is using: roughly $100 million for paving, $100 million for bridges (with the interstate share and NHS priorities emphasized), $55 million targeted at the interstate system, $25 million for the state system, $20 million for town/highway bridge projects, $40 million for roadway projects, $40 million for traffic safety and $30 million reserved for emerging needs and preservation. He said the $325 million comes from about $275 million in federal formula funds plus approximately $50 million in state match (roughly a 15% match).
Committee members pressed on flexibility and tradeoffs. Reed said some state bridge match comes from a roughly $60 million fund (described in the hearing as a TID/TIP-style match) that cannot be moved into paving, limiting the agency's ability to shift funds between bridges and paving. He also warned that the committee's "budget on a page" includes emergency-relief (ER) funds from 2023–24 storms that can inflate year-to-year totals, making comparisons to baseline formula capacity misleading.
Reed raised long-term condition concerns: interstate bridges are aging and may require significant rehabilitation or replacement in the 50–75 year window, deep culverts are often being upsized for resilience, and the agency is trying to "flatten the failure curve" by using preservation treatments and targeted interventions rather than letting multiple assets fail simultaneously. Reed said many large "legacy" projects (including Pittsburgh/Grandin, Cabot/Danville, Putney Road and additional Route 7 segments) remain in the pipeline and will occupy program capacity for years, so new major projects generally cannot be added without major revenue changes.
Representative Casey told the committee Route 22A remains a serious safety concern, citing heavy tractor‑trailer use and multiple deaths; Reed said the agency will continue incremental safety work and small paving projects but a full rebuild or widening is farther out because of right-of-way and cost constraints.
No formal votes were taken during the hearing. Reed said the agency would continue sequencing work and return to committee with additional materials as the budget process moves forward.
