(The Center Square) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp plans to recommend an additional $1.5 billion in state funds for the Georgia Department of Transportation for projects that “directly help move commuters and freight.”
“With the funds provided in our amended 2024 budget, these projects will accelerate GDOT’s existing project pipeline, enabling the agency to work further down its list of priority projects that includes those related to Georgia’s two largest economic development projects in state history,” Kemp, a Republican, said in prepared remarks for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s annual Eggs and Issues legislative preview event on Wednesday.
“This funding will also enable us to establish a new program focused on Freight Infrastructure projects that improve efficiency, safety, and reliability for the transportation of goods,” the governor added. “Lastly, [$200 million] from this pot of money will go to the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant, essentially doubling the amount available to local governments for Fiscal Year 2024 to [$418 million]. This money will be well spent on local road engineering, construction, paving, and maintenance.”
The fiscal 2024 budget state lawmakers approved last year included $3.9 billion for the state’s transportation department, including more than $2.2 billion in state money and more than $1.5 billion in federal taxpayer funds. Additional money for the transportation department won’t necessarily be problematic as the state has a roughly $16 billion “budget surplus.”
“We at Georgia DOT are very grateful to Governor Kemp for his announcement of additional transportation funding being made available in the amended 2024 budget,” GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry said in a statement to The Center Square. “We look forward to the budget process and to strategically improving the State’s transportation infrastructure with these additional funds.”