The US Senate recently passed a House-drafted bill that provides a temporary fix to the federal Highway Trust Fund problems. The bill moves $11 billion from other sources over to the fund to prevent a 28% reduction in spending during peak construction time. The fix is far from permanent but will allow the feds to continue to make payments to state agencies and others – for now. Several of the large transportation projects currently underway in North Carolina receive federal dollars, including the Monroe Bypass, I-540 / Outer Loop in Wake County, and the Durham East End Connector.