ATHENS — Georgia’s roads chief told a transportation-minded crowd Wednesday he hopes new and improved state and federal funding will help shore up the state’s substandard roads and bridges. Combining state and federal funding amounts “gives us the level of investment” recommended by a Georgia legislative committee a couple of years ago, or before state lawmakers approved the Transportation Funding Act of 2015, Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry said. The committee had said that Georgia needed an additional $1 billion per year “just to take care of its existing assets,” he said.