Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Greg Thomas delivered “good news” to members of the Bowling Green Noon Rotary Club on Wednesday when he announced the recovery of a fund for state infrastructure projects.

Last year, the cabinet introduced the Pause-50 program that halted all new state projects in an effort to avoid depleting the state’s Road Fund. The fund supports all cabinet operations, including construction, maintenance and general support, according to the cabinet.

“The Pause-50 has worked,” Thomas said, speaking as the club’s guest speaker. “We’ve stabilized the Road Fund.”

Thomas credited increased efficiencies and revenues from driver’s registration fees for the fund’s recovery.

Last June, Thomas testified before the General Assembly’s Interim Joint Committee on Transportation.

“For the first time in recent history, the cabinet faces a low Road Fund cash balance, which compromises our ability to authorize new state road projects over the next biennium,” Thomas said in a cabinet news release at the time.

At that time, Thomas described the Pause-50 program as a way to pay current expenses, recoup lost revenue and rebuild the funding base by slowing or delay the start of new projects.

The cabinet planned to halt the addition of new state-funded projects in the first year of the biennium and anticipated the availability of $50 million for state project starts in the second year.

“The original projection was that we would invest at least $50 million beginning this July,” Thomas said. “But we’re well north of that.”

Thomas added he thinks observers will be encouraged by the invested amount and anticipated the cabinet investing $30 million in July.

“I think folks are going to be encouraged over the next year because we’ve been able to spend more,” he said. “We’ve said all along we’re not cash hoarders. We’re just trying to manage the budget.”

Despite the positive condition of the Road Fund, Thomas said there’s still a significant backlog of infrastructure improvements and the state’s need for more revenue. There are about 1,200 structurally deficient bridges in the state, Thomas said.

Thomas highlighted some of the cabinet’s efforts to improve its efficiency, including its Flexible Solutions program. The program trains engineers and planners to look at more cost-effective ways to solve road problems, he said.

As the cabinet is putting together its next road fund plan, Thomas said it’s looking to address an overcommitment of funds. He said the governor has asked for a prioritization model that would be used to score projects across the commonwealth.

“We’re just finishing that up at the cabinet now,” he said, adding the cabinet could roll out those priorities within the next month or so. Following that, Thomas said priorities will be scored regionally based on breaking up the state into four regions to more evenly distribute money across the state.

Thomas also took several questions from club members, including state Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, who asked about how helpful public and private partnerships could be.

“I see a lot of opportunity in terms of our major projects,” such as improvements to I-69, he said.

In an interview with the Daily News, Thomas said he was encouraged by recent infrastructure improvements proposed by President Donald Trump.

“The trend is toward public-private partnerships … but there’s also $200 billion there proposed in his budget, which is certainly a good start,” he said.

When asked if he’s concerned about infrastructure being shuttled aside by Congress’ health care and tax reform policy priorities, Thomas said: “I think that concern is there but I would also say that if you’re looking for any one issue that’s on both sides of the aisle, that everyone could potentially agree on, it’s the need for more infrastructure.”