Source: United States Senator for Ohio Rob Portman
Funds Made Available Thanks to Portman’s Finish the Appalachian Development Highway System Act, Included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
January 25, 2022 | Press Releases
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) applauded the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)’s announcement that Ohio will receive $18,530,495 for fiscal year 2022 to help finish the state’s portion of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS). These funds are provided through Portman’s bipartisan Finish the Appalachian Development Highway System Act, which was signed into law as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Ohio stands to receive $95.2 million in funding for the initiative over the next five years.
“The Appalachian Development Highway System includes thousands of miles of highway, creating jobs and bringing important economic development to Southern Ohio and the rest of Appalachia. This funding, which was included in the bipartisan infrastructure law, will help Ohio to complete its remaining unfinished portions, connecting Ohio’s most rural areas to the rest of the country,” said Senator Portman. “I am proud of our bipartisan work on the infrastructure bill and proud that it is making a difference for Ohio and Appalachia.”
The ADHS was signed into law in 1965 by President Johnson to build 3,090 miles of highway in isolated areas in Appalachia – places that were difficult, expensive, and hard to reach. As of FY 2021, 91.1 percent of the system is under construction or open to traffic, with only 276 miles left to go. According to the ARC, the full cost of completion for the ADHS is roughly $9.7 billion. Since 2012, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and its successor, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, no longer provided dedicated ADHS funds to states’ Departments of Transportation, and many projects languished. The dedicated federal funding provided through the IIJA will finally allow states to finish the last few portions of this critical network.
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