Stimulus projects stuck on the ground
The first stimulus-funded road project started in March. While that project is almost done, many others are not. Elizabeth Threlkeld reports.
A crew paints New Hampshire Ave. in Washington, D.C. (Elizabeth Threlkeld)
More on Washington, DC, America's Financial Crisis
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: President Obama kicked off the first stimulus-funded road project back in March: a repaving job in suburban Washington D.C. Nearly eight months later, it's almost completed. Marketplace has been keeping tabs on the project. And reporter Elizabeth Threlkeld says while the project is wrapping up, many others are not.
Elizabeth Threlkeld: New Hampshire Avenue is getting a paint job. Workers are laying down 3-foot long strips of white paint at a crosswalk. It's the last step in a repaving project.
Scot Dauphinais: Basically just put it down and then with a propane torch they melt all the edges together and it forms just one uniform bar all the way across.
That's project manager Scot Dauphinais. He says he's relieved the job is wrapping up.
Dauphinais: There was a lot eyes on us since this was the first job in the country for the stimulus plan.
This is one of only a few stimulus transportation projects that's actually finished. Most are just getting started.
Eric Gillespie: It takes a while to spend a trillion dollars.
Eric Gillespie is chief information officer for Onvia, a research firm that tracks stimulus spending at Recovery.org. He says a lot of stimulus money has been committed to states. But not all the funds haven't their way to actual projects yet.
Gillespie: I think the timeline was aggressive from the beginning, and the view was pretty optimistic. The projects today that are underway, I would say, are fewer than anyone expected.
The federal government has promised to fund over $35 billion in stimulus road projects. Gillespie says they've only cut checks to contractors for close to $14 billion so far.
Another reason for the slow start is logistics. Victor Mendez is head of the Federal Highway Administration.
Victor Mendez: We're kind of venturing now into the next phase of the more complex, larger projects that have taken a little bit longer to get them ready actually to contract out.
Once more stimulus money starts flowing, planners are hoping all the end up like the first one in Maryland -- on time and under budget.
In Washington, I'm Elizabeth Threlkeld for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.