With $110 billion flowing to states and local governments across the US to repair and rebuild roads and bridges as part of President Biden’s infrastructure bill, deciding how to prioritize work will present its own unique challenge. At least one state will know exactly where to start, though. Virginia’s geographic approach to prioritizing infrastructure projects has already enabled the state to embark on one of the largest transportation projects in the country: expanding a busy 3.5mile, four-lane bridge-and-tunnel system. Virginia Ahead of the Curve on Prioritizing Infrastructure The Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment has partnered with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation to develop a way to score projects across six main categories: safety, congestion, accessibility, land use, the environment, and economic development. The approach, known as SMART SCALE, uses a GIS to visualize and analyze all relevant data in the context of location. 182 The towns and cities in the Tidewater Region of Virginia are connected by a series of bridges and causeways.
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