Shovels have hit the dirt for a $3.8 billion expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia, and work is expected to wrap up in November 2025. The project aims to ease commutes with widened segments of Interstate 64 and a pair of two-lane bored tunnels.

The Texas Department of Transportation is allowing a second 30-day period for public input on environmental issues associated with reconstruction of Interstate 45. The $7 billion project would add two managed lanes in each direction and would rebuild lanes and frontage roads from downtown Houston northward to Beltway 8.

The Interstate 270 North Design Build Project is expected to curb a high crash rate along the stretch between James S. McDonnell Boulevard and Bellefontaine Road in St. Louis County, Mo. The section was built in the 1960s, and the $278 million project brings it up to date with bridge and pavement replacement, accessibility for cyclists and pedestrians, and improved traffic and safety features.

New Jersey Transit has ditched a plan for a 140-megawatt natural gas power plant in favor of a microgrid incorporating wind, solar, hydrogen fuel cells and batteries. The microgrid should be more cost-efficient and let New Jersey Transit sell excess energy, New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel says.

Devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy is still evident across public transit systems in the Northeast, but it is only one of a series of crises that have challenged transit systems. Billions of dollars in damage remains eight years later, partly because of a lack of federal funding and institutional and structural deficiency.

Passenger-rail infrastructure in nine states has received $291 million in grants from the Transportation Department. The grants are meant for 11 projects, which include replacing bridges and upgrading stations and signaling systems.

Salt Lake City International Airport has opened Concourse B, with a Southwest Airlines flight to Oakland, Calif., the maiden voyage. Opening of the 21-gate concourse, which also hosts flights from Alaska Airlines, Frontier Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways, completes the first phase of a project that essentially replaces the airport.

Cost savings and increased business activity would outweigh the cost of building a 27-mile monorail along Interstate 270 from Shady Grove to Frederick, Md., according to a study. Developer Robert Eisinger is concerned about Maryland's troubled Purple Line project but says a monorail project via a public-private partnership would involve less risk because of fewer complications with rights of way and utility relocation.

The USDA will direct $891 million toward rural water and wastewater infrastructure projects in 43 states through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program. "Upgrading water infrastructure provides a path to economic growth and protects the health and safety of people who live and work in rural areas," said Bette Brand, the USDA's deputy undersecretary for rural development.

A revised plan by the US Army Corps of Engineers for a coastal barrier in southeast Texas lowers the estimated cost from $32 billion to $26.2 billion. The plan includes 43 miles of dunes and restored beaches and huge sea gates to protect the Houston Ship Channel.

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