Stimulus: Gains Continue in Road, Transit Projects

The number of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act highway and transit projects out to bid, under contract and under way, as well as their dollar value, is climbing, but actual outlays still are low.

As of June 30, 5,079 ARRA road and transit projects, worth $16.7 billion, were out to bid, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said on July 27. Project total rose 24% from the May 31 level. ARRA highway outlays were $414 million as of July 21, the Transportation Dept. reported.

Of projects out to bid, 3,553 contracts were signed, totaling $10.6 billion on June 30, up from 2,294 projects worth $6.5 billion in May, the committee said. Work has started on 2,522 projects, worth $7.7 billion. Those dollars are up 75% from the May 31 figure.

Pam Hunter McFarland was a Senior Editor of ENR and her expertise was: Sourcebooks, Environment, Labor

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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