The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has announced a $120m project to improve 163 lane miles of I-264 and I-64 in the southside region of Hampton Roads.

Contracts for the new project are slated to be awarded by the end of 2013, while construction is expected to commence early next year.

"There will be more construction activity to follow as the new law provides $1.3bn in additional funding for transportation improvements throughout the Hampton Roads region."

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said that the project has been made possible by a historic funding package signed into law this week.

"There will be more construction activity to follow as the new law provides $1.3bn in additional funding for transportation improvements throughout the Hampton Roads region," he said.

The new revenue resources will also boost the ongoing pavement and bridge rehabilitation across the state.

VDOT Commissioner Greg Whirley said, "Rehabilitating I-64 and I-264 in the southside is among the top immediate priorities to extend the life of the state’s aging highway system and to provide a safer and better driving surface for motorists."

Over the last three months, VDOT and its contractor teams have been repairing the aging concrete sections of I-64 and I-264.

The department, which currently has five active concrete pavement rehabilitation contracts working on these sections, is working to speed up the contracts to overlay these repaired sections of interstate with a thin layer of asphalt.

This critical piece of the ultimate overlay will be implemented across several sections of the interstate as early as this autumn.

VDOT also issued a formal request for qualifications (RFQ) on three new design-build contracts that will overlay the new rehabilitated concrete with a smooth driving surface.