$300M in federal funds coming to Hampton Roads

Other local projects in the package:

$30.4 million for a C-40 hangar at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.
$16 million for a Special Operations Forces facility at Oceana’s Dam Neck annex.
$18.7 million for the Special Operations Forces Activity and $13.1 million for the Naval Construction Division at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.
$11.7 million for an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye trainer facility and $6.4 million for associated upgrades in Norfolk.
$8.9 million to upgrade the marshaling area at Fort Eustis in Newport News.
$500,000 to the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters for construction of a new health center in Chesapeake.

By Scott Harper
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 16, 2009

A congressional spending package approved this week contains at least $300 million for Hampton Roads – money that mostly will refurbish military bases but also will aid transportation, public health and environmental projects.

Almost half of the federal funds coming to the region, or some $127 million, will replace ship-repair piers at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth.

According to a localized breakdown prepared by U.S. Sen. Jim Webb’s office, nearly $1 million will go toward a study, which already is under way, for extending the Norfolk light-rail line to Virginia Beach and Norfolk Naval Station.

Another $750,000 will aid in the replacement of the Lesner Bridge across the mouth of the Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach. The city has programmed about $30 million for the $100 million project so far.

In addition, $487,000 has been set aside for improvements to U.S. 17/Dominion Boulevard in Chesapeake, a $376 million project that includes widening the highway and replacing the steel drawbridge. The state so far has committed close to $25 million for the work.

On the environmental front, the U.S. House and Senate agreed to spend $3 million next year to expand oyster farming in the Chesapeake Bay. Jim Wesson, who oversees oyster restoration programs for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, described the federal aid Tuesday as “very helpful and extremely well-timed,” coming as state money for recovery efforts has been cut to zero because of the ongoing budget crunch in Richmond.

Oyster farming, or aquaculture, is becoming a popular way to overcome diseases, pollution and lost habitat that have devastated wild, native stocks in the Bay. The $3 million will be used to encourage more entrepreneurs to try farming, and to grow more “spat-on-shell” oysters in hatcheries that are tougher against predators in the water, Wesson said.

Overall, the federal funds stem from the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, passed by the House last Thursday and the Senate on Sunday. The bill is headed next for expected signature at the desk of President Barack Obama.

The package is actually six spending bills in all, totaling $446 billion, for government functions including veterans affairs, military construction, housing and urban development, health and human services, commerce, justice and science.

“Better roadways and investment in public facilities and services are essential in order to attract new businesses and spur economic development in the Hampton Roads area,” said Webb, D-Va., in a statement.