497 Highway Improvement Projects Underway or Completed in Illinois Thanks to Stimulus Law

News provided by

American Road & Transportation Builders Association

Mar 08, 2010, 04:33 ET

WASHINGTON, March 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- There are currently 497 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA)-financed highway construction projects underway or completed in Illinois involving $745.5 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 20,749 jobs in Illinois 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 $935.6 million to Illinois for highway, bridge and related improvements. This one-time bonus added more than 83 percent to Illinois' 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 $2.06 billion.

According to Buechner, a Harvard-trained economist, another 242 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 Illinois congressional district.


Congressional District	Number of projects	Amount Obligated
1	18	$35,151,635
2	32	$89,421,732
3	29	$20,408,427
4-5	11	$11,953,819
6	13	$12,665,435
7	10	$45,709,720
8	26	$41,546,510
9	23	$21,874,772
10	20	$19,078,003
11	59	$57,527,983
12	51	$34,524,294
13	27	$26,049,800
14	44	$35,654,914
15	76	$84,464,888
16	49	$31,189,263
17	60	$74,314,258
18	68	$67,861,249
19	60	$66,068,280
Multidistrict/Statewide	62	$145,181,457

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