RICHMOND -- Virginia officials expect state and federal transportation revenues to decrease by as much as $2.6 billion over the next six years, leading to more cuts in the state's road-building plan and reduced services at the Virginia Department of Transportation.

"Every county, every city, every town will have reduced services, fewer projects and, arguably, fewer opportunities as a consequence of this," said Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer in a Wednesday presentation to the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

The transportation board will have to delay or delete at least $1.1 billion worth of projects from the state's six-year, $7.9 billion road construction plan. And VDOT will eliminate 900 full-time jobs and scale back services because of funding shortfalls affecting the agency, officials said.

"The changes are not going to be without pain," said VDOT Commissioner David Ekern, who warned that new construction will be "episodic."

Officials said they expect a six-year shortfall of $2.1 billion to $2.6 billion in overall transportation funding, which was expected to total about $27 billion.

The transportation board earlier this year trimmed $1.1 billion from the six-year plan to account for sagging revenue growth. Homer attributed the new shortfall to continued weak collections of state taxes on gasoline and vehicle sales, and lingering uncertainty about federal transportation funding.

Homer said he doesn't expect gasoline and vehicle sales tax revenues to rebound when the economy recovers, because gasoline consumption is decreasing along with the resale values of light trucks and sport utility vehicles.

"These changes are not cyclical in nature," Homer said.

"We've gotten very good at reducing costs, cutting projects, slimming down programs; but we have not confronted a change this systemic, this long-lasting," Homer said.

Ekern said that VDOT will develop a cost-cutting plan over the next two months and implement it over a two-year period after getting input from the public. Ekern said the agency likely will consolidate residency offices, close some repair shops and reduce the number of central office divisions by about 30 percent. The agency will reduce its full-time work force from 8,400 to 7,500, but Ekern expects the job losses to occur through attrition.

"In the future, VDOT will be a smaller agency," he said. "We cannot afford to administer and deliver our services, programs and projects the same way we have in the past."

Ekern said the agency will put priorities on maintenance, safety and emergency response as it cuts costs and reorganizes. He said the agency will evaluate all services provided by the department, from snow and ice removal to roadway lighting. Ekern even raised the possibility of seeking federal approval to commercialize interstate rest areas.

Dana Martin, the Salem District representative on the transportation board, said he hopes the VDOT cuts won't dramatically reduce services in the Interstate 81 corridor, where he believes the agency already operates efficiently. He also hopes to keep major Roanoke Valley highway projects in the construction plan but said cuts likely will affect primary and secondary road projects.

The worsening transportation funding crisis will provide another test for Gov. Tim Kaine and state lawmakers, who have struggled to reach a consensus on a long-term plan to finance roads and transit. House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, who has opposed efforts to increase taxes, said transportation officials should not make dramatic cuts to the six-year plan while the economy is so volatile.

"I don't know how anyone can project what's going to happen six years from now," Griffith said. "I would hope we would be out of the economic doldrums in six years."