282 Highway Improvement Projects Underway or Completed in Texas Thanks to Stimulus Law

News provided by

American Road & Transportation Builders Association

Mar 08, 2010, 05:19 ET

WASHINGTON, March 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- There are currently 282 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA)-financed highway construction projects underway or completed in Texas involving $305.3 million in funds, according to data released today by the Washington, D.C.-based American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The projects underway or completed have supported or are supporting 29,275 jobs in Texas that would otherwise not exist, says ARTBA Vice President of Economics & Research Dr. Bill Buechner.

ARRA, signed into law on February 17, 2009, provided $48 billion for transportation improvements over two years, including $27.5 billion for highway, bridge and related construction projects nationwide. The law is having significant impacts on the transportation construction industry in all 50 states.

ARRA provided $2.26 billion to Texas for highway, bridge and related improvements. This one-time bonus added more than 78 percent to Texas's regular federal highway funds under the current federal surface transportation law -- Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) -- bringing the state's total federal highway funding in 2009 to a record $5.13 billion.

According to Buechner, a Harvard-trained economist, another 160 projects have been identified and are slated to be under construction shortly.

The following shows the number of ARRA-financed highway projects and amount obligated in each Texas congressional district:


Congressional District	Number of projects	Amount Obligated
1	21	$67,024,960
2	4	$5,953,429
3	2	$1,612,852
4	21	$39,755,414
5	10	$21,681,630
6	20	$52,133,384
7	3	$667,516
8	15	$163,726,618
9	2	$1,435,762
10	18	$53,204,469
11	26	$50,799,608
12	11	$133,427,067
13	29	$54,306,370
14	26	$76,946,488
15	21	$155,369,800
16	5	$100,830,745
17	18	$61,504,555
18	2	$18,940,789
19	20	$58,306,650
20	5	$18,555,801
21	12	$15,843,957
22	9	$35,716,531
23	13	$23,574,482
24	1	$250,000,000
25	10	$19,935,056
26	5	$4,161,516
27	10	$80,725,983
28	16	$54,156,385
29	5	$18,689,318
30	4	$22,458,145
31	13	$165,145,088
32	1	$474,016
Multidistrict, Austin area	13	$78,640,767
Multidistrict, Dallas area	2	$2,430,629
Multidistrict, Houston area	9	$79,337,505
Multidistrict, other	40	$130,641,254

A full report can be obtained by contacting ARTBA's Jeff Solsby at [email protected] or 202-289-4434.

For 108 years, ARTBA has represented the U.S. transportation design and construction industry before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, news media and general public.

SOURCE American Road & Transportation Builders Association