The Iowa Department of Transportation says it plans to spend a record $700 million this year for construction on state and interstate highway projects.
Cities and counties also plan to boost expenditures to fill potholes, repair aging bridges and install new concrete and asphalt pavement. The tax increase, which took effect March 1, will provide cities and counties an extra $200 million annually.
Cities and counties maintain the vast majority of roads in Iowa's 114,000-mile system.
"This is going to be a huge help," said Lyle Brehm, county engineer for Poweshiek and Tama counties and lobbyist for the Iowa County Engineers Association.
The biggest year in the past for DOT road projects was in 2014, when it spent $656 million. The agency was already planning an ambitious construction schedule for 2015, and the additional gas tax funding has enabled it to move up about $33 million in projects, said Stuart Anderson, director of the DOT's Planning, Programming and Modal Division.
