Virginia Department of Transportation in Richmond, Va. (Parker Michels-Boyce for The Virginia Mercury)
The United States Department of Transportation announced Friday that it’s sending $10 million to the Virginia Department of Transportation to “restore and reopen” a one-mile stretch of Route 58 in Washington County that was washed out when Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in the Southwest Virginia region.
“Hurricane Helene’s devastation affected communities in multiple states, including Virginia, and the Biden-Harris Administration is here to support all of them as they recover and rebuild,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a statement on the funding.
U.S. Route 58 spans the entire state all the way from Virginia Beach through Southside and into Tennessee, where it becomes State Route 383.
The washed-out portion runs between the intersection of Route 91 at Damascus and Feather Camp Road in the Konnarock area, which has prompted a 30-mile detour until the road is reopened. The mountainous region has limited thoroughfares connecting the more populated regions, making Route 58 an important alternative to hilly, curvy backroads.
Estimates of when the road will be functional were not included in the release.
A total of 484 primary and secondary roads and 118 bridges were closed following the storm. Now, only two primary and 16 secondary roads, and 10 bridges, remained closed, Virginia Secretary of Finance Stephen Cummings said in an update to legislators at a Senate Finance Committee last week.
The announcement of the funding comes after Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Oct. 17 launched the Office of Hurricane Helene Rebuilding and Recovery to track the state’s restoration efforts. The storm is now credited with killing three Southwest Virginians, after one person who was injured in North Carolina during the weather event and died after returning to his home in the commonwealth.
Cummings also relayed in his update to legislators that 200 people in hard-to-reach areas were still without power and that nearly all schools had reopened by Oct. 7, with Grayson County Public Schools re-opening soon after.
Since Oct. 7, five disaster recovery centers have been opened in the state in Damascus, Independence, Tazewell, Dublin and Marion.
As of Oct. 8, damage in the region had led the state to lose about $731.4 million in income tax, $8.9 billion in taxable sales, and 249,330 jobs, Cummings shared.
In a statement about the creation of the office, a Youngkin news release said the move “does not redirect the administration of resources from any agency, but formalizes the coordination and oversight of resources and activities out of the Governor’s office.” Cummings added the office could be made up of one or two people, and would free up the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to continue to respond to other events.
“We know this is a long road, but with the incredible grit and resilience of the people and communities affected, in collaboration with local, state and federal partners, Southwest Virginia will rebuild stronger than ever,” Youngkin said in his statement.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.