Regional Briefing
VDOT Layoffs;
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TRANSPORTATION
VDOT Lays Off 600 Workers
The Virginia Department of Transportation issued layoff notices Monday to 600 employees, in the second of three rounds of cuts caused by a projected $2.6 billion shortfall in transportation revenue over the next six years.
The cuts affect full-time preliminary engineering and construction workers, including surveyors and bridge inspectors, and full-time employees in the department's equipment shops, about half of which are to close.
Employees who received the notices, including 50 in Northern Virginia, are eligible to be considered for other VDOT and state jobs. VDOT Commissioner David Ekern said he expects about half of the 600 to be placed in other positions before Oct. 24. The rest would become unemployed in September or October.
The cuts are part of a plan announced last year to reduce staffing at the agency by 20 percent by July 1, 2010. Last month, the agency laid off 450 part-time workers. A third round of cuts is expected to eliminate more full-time jobs in December.
-- Greg Gaudio
Electrical Wires Force Detour
After a truck apparently clipped a District traffic sign during Monday's evening rush, live electrical wires blocked the Massachusetts Avenue NW underpass at Thomas Circle, officials said.
Officials detoured eastbound traffic around the underpass shortly after 5 p.m. so crews could disable the power to the hanging sign, said John Lisle, a spokesman for the District Department of Transportation. The road was cleared by 6 p.m.
-- James Hohmann
