The 2,000th transportation project to be funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was announced yesterday by President Barack Obama, only six weeks after approving the first project. The president made the remarks at the U.S. Department of Transportation with Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
"Just 41 days ago we announced funding for the first transportation project under ARRA, and today we’re approving the 2,000th project," said President Obama.
“Today, I think it's safe to say that this plan is beginning to work,” said Obama. “We see it in the clean energy companies rehiring workers; in police departments canceling planned layoffs; in health care clinics planning to expand to care for more folks in need. We see it in the 120 million families who are already taking home larger paychecks because of our Making Work Pay tax cut.
“And we see it particularly in the work of this department--in the plans under way to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges, modernize our airports and shipyards, develop high-speed rail networks and restore aging public transit systems. All told, we are making the largest new investment in America's infrastructure since President Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System back in the 1950s.
“But what is most remarkable about this effort--and what I'm here to talk about today--isn't just the size of our investment or the number of projects we're investing in--it's how quickly, efficiently and responsibly those investments have been made.
“Today, because these projects are getting approved more quickly than we thought, thanks to in large part the outstanding work of the TIGER team and folks here at the Department of Transportation, and because these projects are costing less than we thought, we can utter a sentence rarely heard in recent years: This government effort is coming in ahead of schedule and under budget.”
The 2,000th project is in Kalamazoo County, Mich. The $68 million project involves widening of I-94 from two lanes both east- and westbound to three lanes in each direction. The project will improve safety and ease congestion by providing a more efficient interchange.
State departments of transportation around the country have reported to FHWA intense competition by contractors for ARRA projects. Bids have been roughly 15-20% lower on average, and as much as 30% lower in some cases, than engineers anticipated. For example, in Colorado, the state’s first five ARRA transportation projects announced on April 2 were 12% lower than anticipated. In Maine, one bridge project was 20% lower than estimated. In Oregon, during February and March 2009, bids have averaged 30% lower than expected.
ARRA provides a total of $48.1 billion for transportation infrastructure projects to be administered by the U.S. DOT. Of that total, $27.5 billion is for highways and bridges; $8.4 billion is for transit; $8 billion is for high-speed rail; $1.3 billion is for Amtrak; $1.5 billion is for discretionary infrastructure grants; $1.3 billion is for airports and Federal Aviation Administration facilities and equipment; and $100 million is for shipyards.
In early February, prior to the passage of the ARRA, Secretary LaHood established within the U.S. DOT the TIGER (Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery) team to ensure that economic recovery dollars for transportation infrastructure projects is rapidly made available and that project spending is monitored and transparent. On March 3, the president unveiled a TIGER logo, as well as an ARRA logo, that will be placed on construction signs across the country, to mark projects being built and jobs created with Recovery Act funds.
