Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a $612.5 million fiscal 2017 transportation bill that boosts funding for road repaving and bridges.
The budget, signed Thursday, includes $111.1 million for paving projects, an 11% increase, and $105.1 million toward bridge rehabilitation, a 10% jump. Shumlin, a Democrat, emphasized that the budget aims to continue gains Vermont has made with infrastructure safety that includes a 16.1% decrease in structurally deficient bridges since December 2008. The spending plan will repair or replace more than 140 bridges, performs preventive maintenance on over 25 structures and repave an additional 200 miles of state highways.
"The fact that we now have literally now cut our number of deficient roads and poorly paved roads, bridges in half is a big deal for Vermont going forward," said Shumlin at a press conference after signing the bill. "We are making great progress. Let's keep it up."
Vermont is rated triple-A by Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings. Standard & Poor's rates Vermont bonds AA-plus.
