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ARRA funds translate into transportation paychecks

Creating jobs and boosting the national economy was the purpose of the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act and an updated report titled More Projects and Paychecks: Transportation’s Summer of Recovery illustrates how these investments in transportation are delivering exceptional results.

According to the report, released this week, by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as of Aug. 31, the U.S. Department of Transportation reports that work is under way on 4,200 mass transit projects totaling $5.4 billion and 11,978 highway and bridge projects, totaling $24.1 billion. A total of 13,000 highway projects worth $26.4 billion have been approved for construction, that when completed will improve 35,399 miles of highways, and 1,200 bridges.

“These are big numbers,” said AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley. “Billions of dollars being invested in transportation projects that are creating paychecks for hundreds of thousands of construction workers hard hit by unemployment rates that were well above 20 percent earlier this year. And when you consider that more than 6,000 highway and bridge projects and nearly 25-hundred transit projects have already been completed, you can see firsthand how states are delivering for the American people.”

This report and its predecessor Projects and Paychecks: A One Year Report on State Transportation Success under ARRA offer a snapshot of the real and lasting improvements to roads, bridges, interstates and mass transit systems the nation relies on. The reports also acknowledge the hard work and dedication of hundreds of thousands state DOT employees, contractors and manufactures who worked tirelessly to move these projects forward and to meet rigorous reporting requirements and deadlines.

“For every dollar spent in keeping a road in good condition the American taxpayer saves $10 to rebuild a deteriorated road,” said Horsley. “Transportation is a smart investment and we’re hoping that this report will help make a strong case for a robust, long-term highway and transit reauthorization.”

The full report, More Projects and Paychecks: Transportation’s Summer of Recovery including state examples of recovery projects and the people they employed, is available at the website http://recovery.transportation.org.