294 Highway Improvement Projects Underway or Completed in North Carolina Thanks to Stimulus Law

News provided by

American Road & Transportation Builders Association

Mar 08, 2010, 05:05 ET

WASHINGTON, March 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- There are currently 294 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA)-financed highway construction projects underway or completed in North Carolina involving $661.4 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 18,403 jobs in North Carolina 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 $735.5 million to North Carolina for highway, bridge and related improvements. This one-time bonus added more than 79 percent to North Carolina'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 $1.67 billion.

According to Buechner, a Harvard-trained economist, another 79 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 North Carolina congressional district.


Congressional District	Number of projects	Amount Obligated
1	48	$50,098,874
2	27	$50,236,497
3	7	$17,927,167
4	23	$31,519,855
5	35	$93,908,694
6	11	$11,979,782
7	9	$35,725,696
8-9	16	$35,762,779
10	7	$15,430,369
11	45	$60,987,902
13	1	$1,674,973
Multidistrict/Statewide	144	$305,432,351

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.