Hoeven Outlines Six-Year Highway Bill for Builders and Contractors; Measure Moves Nearly 160 New Projects

Press Release

Senator John Hoeven today outlined the Senate's new six-year highway bill at an open house of the Associated Builders and Contractors. The measure will provide North Dakota with more than $1.6 billion. Hoeven said the formula is favorable to North Dakota and increases highway funding for the state to $270 million, about $30 million a year more than it currently receives.

The Senate also passed a 90-day, short-term House measure that extends highway funding until October 29 while the two chambers work to finalize a long-term bill.

"Last week, Business Insider Magazine ranked the economy in North Dakota tops in the nation, with a 2014 GDP growth rate of 6.3 percent and the highest average wage growth rate of 7.1 percent," Hoeven said. "The economic benefits from the new highway bill will ripple through North Dakota's economy and benefit builders and contractors across our state."

Hoeven said travel on North Dakota highways increased by 71 percent between 1990 and 2013, and the state's population has grown by 10 percent, mostly in the last decade. About 70 percent of the $27 billion in commodities delivered annually from sites in North Dakota is carried by trucks on the state's highways.

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