Preston Bryant is a Republican who has represented Lynchburg and part of Amherst County in the Virginia House of Delgates since 1996.

A recent visit to the so-called "contracting opportunities" section of VDOT's web site showed that, where requests for proposals are listed for professional services, well, there isn't much going on.

The following VDOT divisions listed the following procurement calls from the private sector for work proposals:

Construction: No RFPs.

Location and Design: No RFPs.

Maintenance: No RFPs.

Materials: No RFPs.

Right of Way/Utilities: No RFPs.

Structure and Bridge: No RFPs.

Traffic Engineering: No RFPs.

Transportation Planning: No RFPs.

So such is the sad state of affairs at VDOT. There is so little being planned for the design of new road and bridge projects that VDOT isn't seeking any significant assistance from private-sector engineering firms.

And what design work is being done at the moment, VDOT is using its in-house staff. The busier VDOT employees can be kept, the less need for their layoffs. At least, that's the line being given. (May God always forbid a 10,000-person bureaucracy being trimmed at all.)

Obviously, the slowdown in transportation work is the result of the economic slowdown. Given that VDOT gets most of its money from specific tax streams -- gas taxes, insurance premium taxes, and license tag fees as well as a little bit from the state sales tax -- when consumer spending slows, so do these tax revenues being generated from it.

All in all, VDOT's budget is about $3.4 billion a year (including some federal dollars sent our way), with about 60 percent of that going to road and bridge construction. VDOT's overall budget hasn't changed dramatically for several years now.

This is not to say, however, that Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly haven't taken stabs at generating more money for roads. Who can forget the failed referendums last year in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to increase the state sales tax for transportation projects in those two regions? The referendums were hotly debated, and when it came time to vote, folks said no -- overwhelmingly in both regions -- to new taxes. A lot of people-- the governor and a number of legislators alike -- got stung on that one.

And this year's General Assembly also saw proposed a more than $1 billion bond initiative -- the Commonwealth Private Investment Inducement Act of 2003 -- to help fund road projects not just in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads but also up and down the Interstate 81 corridor. Any bond money spent would've been matched by private-sector investments and local government funds.

This idea was pushed by none other than Del. Jack Rollison, a Prince William County Republican who's also known as "Mr. Transportation." Rollison, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, saw his proposal pass the House of Delegates but fail in the Senate Finance Committee.

So the legislature adjourned in ho-hum fashion this year without any new money to build more roads and bridges in even the most hard-pressed parts of the state.

Let it not be said, however, that there is no construction work going on anywhere at all. That's not the case. There's still plenty of road and bridge work being carried out all over Virginia.

There are bypasses being built in Lynchburg and Danville; I-64 is being widened in the Richmond area as well as on the Peninsula; construction at the Springfield interchange is still going on; and work on U.S. 460 is under way outside of Blacksburg.

And there also are lots of studies being done around the state for new construction projects: comprehensive improvements to I-81 and U.S. 58; upgrades to the U.S. 29 corridor from the N.C. line to Charlottesville; and big improvements to the Capital Beltway in Fairfax. These are just a few.

But the results of these studies, once completed, will remain on a VDOT shelf for the foreseeable future without new money (public and private) being dedicated to transportation. That's a fact.

The one bright spot that still remains in the state's road-building program is the one encouraging public-private partnerships. Without it, there would be even less planning and construction going on these days.

The Public-Private Transportation Act, which has been in place since the mid-1990s, has been responsible for billions of dollars worth of new roads and bridges -- projects from Richmond to Northern Virginia to Hampton Roads to the far Southwest.

And more public-private construction projects may very well be coming, such as more than 300 miles of improvements to I-81, new Hampton Roads bridges and tunnels, and upgrades to I-495 in Northern Virginia, just to name a few.

With limited (even dwindling) state dollars to fully fund costly road and bridge projects, it'll continue to be incumbent upon state transportation honchos to green-light proposals that include private-sector investment.

If they don't, then VDOT's sputtering construction program will, at best, remain at its current pace. At worst, it'll slow down even more.

The tell-tale sign that things have picked up will be VDOT calling for more help from private-sector engineering firms and paying out more dollars to construction companies.

A lot of people are waiting for that day.