After weathering a two-day funding cutoff, federal highway and transit programs are back in operation, thanks to a stopgap bill signed on March 2. But the extension only runs until March 28 and funds the programs at a rate much lower than last year’s. Transportation officials are hoping for quick Senate approval of a further extension through December that also will bolster the shaky Highway Trust Fund and restore road funding to 2009’s level. Further, the Senate is working on a tax bill that includes provisions to benefit construction.

The immediate focus for construction at ENR press time was an impending Senate vote on a House-passed bill that would carry surface-transportation programs through Dec. 31, prop up the trust fund through a $19.5-billion shift from the general fund and bring highway aid back to 2009 levels for the rest of this year.