New information compiled by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) confirms that close to 90 percent of California’s transportation projects funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) have been awarded to contractors, allowing construction to start.
California received more ARRA, a.k.a. “stimulus,” dollars for transportation than any other state –- nearly $2.6 billion for 982 highway, local street, rail, and port infrastructure projects –- and 853 have been awarded.
“California is effectively spending Recovery Act funds, and we are delivering on our promise to get economic recovery money out on the street as quickly as possible and put people to work,” said Caltrans Director Cindy McKim in a written press statement from Caltrans. “From day one, our focus has been and continues to be ensuring that California gets the maximum benefit from the Recovery Act.”
The new data also show that at $847 million California outpaces all other states but Texas in reported Recovery Act transportation spending. California’s monthly spending more than tripled this year from $40 million in February to $130 million in September.
“We worked multiple shifts putting many people to work on a $40 million Recovery Act project that built five new bridges and widened five miles of State Route 91 in Santa Ana Canyon,” Paul Von Berg, executive vice president of Brutoco Engineering & Construction, the contractor for the project, said in a prepared statement. “We completed the project in less than a year, so the Recovery Act funding was definitely spent in a timely manner.”
California law gave local communities greater control over where and how to spend their share of Recovery Act transportation money -– roughly $1.6 billion for 867 projects distributed to cities, counties, and local agencies, according to Caltrans.
The Recovery Act has enabled California to catch up on what it the states calls “a backlog of critical transportation infrastructure needs.”
