States’ Stimulus Plans Coming Fast at DOT

The U.S. Department of Transportation has already received lists of highway stimulus projects from 31 states, said DOT Chief Economist John V. Wells.

Wells told a group of transportation research specialists March 11 that a special DOT task force is making the transportation stimulus efforts their priority, and plans to “beat every single deadline” in the economic recovery legislation for how quickly the government puts different parts of it into effect.

He said DOT will post evolving details on the Internet when states spend funds out of the $27.5 billion the law provides them for highway projects. It also says they can use some of those funds on freight rail and port needs, and “it remains to be seen to what extent states take advantage of this flexibility.”

A separate $1.5 billion is set off for the transportation secretary to award as grants. DOT has 90 days from when the bill became law to issue guidelines for prospective grant projects, but Wells said the task force aims to cut that schedule in half. That would mean those instructions could be released around the end of March.

DOT is calling its stimulus task force the TIGER team, which stands for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery. It includes officials from across the department’s various offices, and is co-chaired by Lana Hurdle, deputy assistant secretary for budget and programs, and Joel Szabat, deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy.

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