Recovery Act Funds 10,000th Highway Project

The Federal Highway Administration passed a milestone in December when it approved its 10,000th highway project funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which Congress passed in February.

“What better way to cap off the year than with 10,000 highway and bridge projects putting people back to work, strengthening the economy, and making travel safer for everyone,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Of the $26.6 billion available for highway projects through the Recovery Act, $21.8 billion has been obligated to 10,000 projects nationwide, of which 6,092 highway projects are underway. This money is helping employ tens of thousands of men and women and significantly improving more than 27,000 miles of roads and bridges, DOT said.

DOT said it also approved 1,300 transportation projects for infrastructure other than highways and bridges. They are worth another $11.3 billion.

“Highway projects are moving forward across the country,” said FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez. “Thanks to the Recovery Act, drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists will see significantly improved roadways in 2010.”

Construction on the Caldecott Tunnel in San Francisco, one of the largest projects, is set to start in early January. The $257 million project will receive $192.4 million in ARRA funds.

Other major projects include widening I-215 in San Bernardino, Calif., and I-405 in Los Angeles. Reconstruction of the US19/SR 55 Interchange in Clearwater, Fla. began in early December and is planned for completion in July 2014 at a cost of $109 million.

DOT said it has approved more than 11,300 transportation projects, worth $32.1 billion in Recovery Act funding, of which 7,600 projects are currently underway. In January, DOT will announce $8 billion in grants for passenger rail projects and $1.5 billion under the TIGER Discretionary Grants program, some of which will be targeted at ports.

Contact Thomas L. Gallagher at tgallagher@joc.com.