Funds Needed to Complete Hwy 53 Project

City of Virginia Needs Money During Legislative Special Session

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Millions of dollars are needed in order to push ahead with construction on Highway 53 near Virginia.

The bonding bill failed to pass in the legislative session and now the only way for the city to push forward is if they are allotted money during a proposed special session.

Virginia Mayor Larry Cuffe told Fox 21 the city has $90-million towards the project in hand but they need another $150-million from the state in order to finish the project.

The project is a huge undertaking.  One Mayor Cuffe said the city knew would need to be completed when they entered into a land lease agreement with Cleveland Cliffs back in the 1960’s.

Now, that lease is nearly up.

For years the city reviewed a variety of plans before finalizing the construction of a bridge across a mine pit southeast of town.

The new route of Highway 53 would force the Mine View in the Sky to re-locate.

Mayor Cuffe said it is crucial they receive the funds from the state to complete the project.

“The worst case scenario is that if we don’t have that money and it is delayed for two years Cleveland Cliffs, Cliffs Resources is going to continue moving forward with their project and their expansion, because they need to expand and they need to expand out before they can go deeper,” said Virginia Mayor Larry Cuffe.  

Cuffe said if Cliffs would push forward and no new road is built, they’d be forced to re-route Highway 53 on roads south of Virginia.

He said not only could it have a serious financial impact on the Quad Cities it could also impact medical agencies response times.

All of this can be bypassed if Governor Dayton holds a special session and the City of Virginia is allotted money towards the Highway 53 construction.

The Governor has said he plans to hold a special session yet this week.