VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The City of Virginia Beach has received a more than $19 million federal grant to raise and improve Pungo Ferry Road as it continues to be impacted by climate change.
"We've got $19 million heading to the region to improve Pungo Ferry Road and make it more resilient in the face of increased flooding and sea level rise," U.S Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, said to News 3, on Thursday.
Pungo Ferry Road is the only East-to-West connection for many living in the southern part of Virginia Beach.
The money is coming from President Biden's infrastructure law that created the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation Program (PROTECT) Grant Program.
It's aimed at helping cities protect infrastructure impacted by climate change.
"My understanding is that when there is a disruption and the road is unavailable, a detour can go as much as 30 miles, so there's not a lot of alternatives here," Buttigieg said.
"It's actually on very low land which was a swamp previously and it's going to take a lot of engineering to build that road, and it's going to be very costly," Barbara Henley, who represents District 2, said.
The idea of raising the road is part of the Flood Prevention Bond Referendum from 2021.
Henley said this money will help support that project.
She said this road not only supports truck drivers picking up and making deliveries to farmers but also serves as an evacuation route.
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"We have three evacuation routes from the southern part of the city across the river," Henley said. "Pungo Ferry Road is one of them, West Neck Road and Indian River Rd. and all three of those roads are old, but they flood not only in rain but they flood with the wind tide."
According to the city, the project will stretch from Blackwater Road to the west side of the bridge.
The grant said the road would be raised by four feet to make it passable for 100-year storm events.
It will also include paved and graded shoulders and bike paths.
Watch related coverage: Coastal Virginia receives almost $25 million in federal funding for flood mitigation infrastructure
"We're a ways away from construction, but having this money is good because we know we have something to work with in addition to what the bond referendum gave us," Henley said.
The city said as of now there is no definite schedule just yet on when construction will happen but said more information should be coming out later this year.
More than $5 million was also awarded to the Virginia Tidewater and Chesapeake Region from this program.
It will be used to install a weather and traffic monitoring system that will facilitate emergency evacuations due to extreme weather events through VDOT.
