DOT Stimulus Spending Nears $6 billion

Infrastructure project spending under the stimulus law by the Department of Transportation reached $5.9 billion through Nov. 13, a nearly $2 billion increase since the beginning of October.

DOT reimburses states when bills come in for projects covered by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. So far, DOT has approved projects valued at more than $31 billion.

Its disbursements so far are mostly for bridge and highway repairs, or new road and bridge infrastructure that could be rapidly completed in the period since states faced early summer application deadlines. Other DOT spending has gone to transit operations and airport needs.

According to reports filed through the Recovery.gov Web site, DOT said it had paid out $4.06 billion through Oct. 9 and ended October with $5.3 billion in payouts. That rose to $5.6 billion in the first week of November, and then to the $5.9 billion for the latest reporting week, which reflects new checks totaling about $300 million weekly.

DOT has yet to award grants out of its $8 billion fund for passenger train expansion –usually in freight railroad corridors – and development of dedicated high-speed passenger rail lines between cities.

It also has a $1.5 billion discretionary grant pool that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood can spread among projects he deems of special value. He has already said some of that money will go to port needs, since ports were not specifically mentioned in any Recovery Act infrastructure accounts.

Transport-related spending outside of DOT includes rail bridge work over navigable waterways, diesel emission reduction programs that replace old trucks and locomotives, border inspection facilities for freight as well as people and infrastructure support funding for freight facilities as part of economic development.

Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com.