Stimulus money hits the street

U.S. government releases $26.6 billion for highway, bridge construction. Maryland road project among first recipients, creating 60 jobs.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Map
How stimulus will help your state
The Obama administration says the Recovery Act created or saved 640,000 jobs through September. Here's a state-by-state breakdown.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The White House released its promised cash infusion on Tuesday to strengthen the transportation infrastructure across America, and began to announce the first recipients of the funds.

The U.S. government released $26.6 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to state and local transportation authorities, for the building and rebuilding of roads, highways and bridges.

"President Obama is keeping his promise to the American people and he is doing it ahead of schedule," said Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a statement, noting that the funds were released eight days sooner than required.

The money was already being put to work on Tuesday. American Infrastructure, a Worcester, Penn.-based recipient of ARRA funds, began a repaving project on Rt. 650 in Maryland, according to the company and the government. The project is in Montgomery County, near Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Mark Compton, director of government affairs for American Infrastructure, said his company received $2.1 million in federal funds, by way of the Maryland State Highway Administration. The money will be used to repave and add safety features to a stretch of the highway.

Compton said the cash infusion is the "catalyst" to create 60 jobs, including bringing back some employees who had been laid off. He hopes that the workers can be retained beyond this six-month project.

"We'll continue to bid, so the goal is to get more projects to keep those guys working, so they can roll off that project onto another," said Compton.

The DOT said more than 100 transportation projects, receiving some $750 million in ARRA funds, have been identified and can begin work within one month.

The $26.6 billion in highway funds is aimed to generate 150,000 jobs through the end of 2010. The median pay for these jobs is $18.31 an hour, according to the White House.

This is part of President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus plan, intended to "save or create" at least 3.5 million jobs through 2010. To top of page

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More
Sponsors

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.