Senator Reid, RTC detail benefits of transportation plan

Updated: var wn_last_ed_date = getLEDate("Dec22, 2008 7:34 PM EST"); document.write(wn_last_ed_date); Dec 22, 2008 07:34 PM EST

Thousands of jobs and a smoother commute are just some of the possibilities that may grow out of a new transportation plan tied to the economic stimulus package in Washington. News 3's Jerry Brown was on hand as Senator Harry Reid laid out the impact of $1 billion in possible funding.

"All you have to do is drive around, and even though the economy is not as vibrant as it was, there are still traffic jams here in Southern Nevada," explains Senator Reid.

Easing Las Vegas' traffic jams would be one benefit of the new federal economic stimulus package advocated by local and state officials. But Senator Reid explains that the main objective is clear: get people off unemployment and create new job opportunities.

"All economists agree that one way to alleviate the pain of this deep recession is to create jobs. We have jobs that are ready to go forward in a matter of weeks."

Washington's economic stimulus package includes $1 billion for transportation projects right here in Southern Nevada, from roadway rehabilitation and major street and highway improvements, to technological and transit upgrades.

And if every project goes forward, approximately 47,000 new area jobs will be created.

"It's not just going to be asphalt, it's not just going to be concrete. It's going to be electrical work, it's going to be carpentry work, it's going to be steelworkers work," explains Jacob Snow of the RTC. "It's really going to run the gamut of what people are out there looking for - those kind of jobs are going to be coming back if this passes."

The more than 60 projects being pushed by the RTC for its economic stimulus package are already past the planning stages. They're ready for implementation, and all that's needed is the money.

"We're ready to hit the ground running," assures Snow. "We're not going to drop the ball on this one. We've got a lot of projects and we're ready to go."

Southern Nevada will have more information regarding the funding after the new Congress returns in January. Proposed RTC projects include new rapid transit systems on Boulder Highway and Las Vegas Boulevard South, in addition to a major expansion to Interstate 215 at the airport connector.

Spider:

Vet If Dayton can put in for $1.5 Million to Chase ladies of the night.  Someone in Middletown had better be checking into some road funding.

Another project to seek funds for would be water system improvements, repairs, updating etc.  See we had another Fountain spring up on Marshall this week.

San Antonio seeks $1 billion in stimulus money

With President-elect Barack Obama and Congress looking to quickly pump billions of dollars into job-generating projects across the country, San Antonio officials have drawn up a preliminary wish list packed with projects worth $1.1 billion.

If fully funded, the work would create 9,380 jobs, according to city estimates.

It also would result in the environmental restoration of the San Antonio River's southern reach; street and drainage work to ease Fort Sam Houston's massive expansion; new exhibit and meeting space at the Convention Center and citywide street and sidewalk projects.

Local officials making Obama stimulus package wish list

BAY AREA (Bay News 9) -- When President-elect Barack Obama takes office next month, he will have his hands full with the ongoing economic crisis.

At the top of his to do list is passing a stimulus package to get the economy rolling.

And according to Bay News 9's partner newspaper the St. Petersburg Times, local politicians are lining up for a piece of a potentially billion-dollar pie.

If Florida can make its case, the region could see a complete rebuilding of Interstate 275 through Tampa and replacement of the drawbridges linking the mainland with St. Pete Beach and Tierra Verde.

A pair of new taxiways at Tampa International Airport are possible, as are flyovers that will lift U.S. 19 above intersections at Belleair Road and Seville Boulevard in Pinellas County.

Among the possible requests:

Pinellas County
• Widening Keystone Road from U.S. 19 to East Lake Road: $82-million
• Widening Starkey Road from 84th Lane to Bryan Dairy Road: $46-million
• Refurbishing the Friendship Trail Bridge for public use: (cost to be determined)

Hillsborough
• Widening Bruce B. Downs Boulevard between Palm Springs Boulevard and Pebble Creek Drive: $76.6-million
• Widening U.S. 301 from Balm Road to SR 674: $62.6-million
• Widening Boyette Road from Donneymoor Drive to Bell Shoals Road: $36.6-million

City of Tampa
• Construction of an energy-efficient community center at Springhill Park: $3.6-million
• Rehabbing of the Cass, Laurel and Brorein street bridges: $7-million

Hillsborough County School District
• Major renovations at 17 school sites: $103.6-million
• Middle school next to the new Strawberry Crest High School in Plant City, middle school in south

Tampa International Airport
• Reconstruction and/or construction of two taxiways, with bridges: $100.4-million
• Relocation of airport surveillance radar: $10.6-million.

Tampa Housing Authority
• Partial reconstruction of the Central Park Village public housing complex near downtown Tampa into a mixed-use green development called Encore: $27.9-million

Pasco County
• Extending Ridge Road from Moon Lake Road to Suncoast Parkway: $71.4-million
• New courts building in Land O'Lakes: $22-million

 

Dayton region has to know what 'stimulus' it needs

Read Neal Peirce column

Sunday, November 30, 2008

That loud scribbling sound you hear is cities across the country furiously writing down what they would do with a piece of President-elect Barack Obama's so-called stimulus money.

The Obama administration is promising to dump money into communities with the goal of putting people to work. Democrats and a lot of Republicans — not so much U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-West Chester — are with the president-elect on this. Economists are saying that to prevent a worse economic collapse, the government itself has to create jobs.

Here's what Obama said a week ago: "We'll be working out the details in the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jump-start job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy. We'll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels, fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies..."

How much is he talking about spending?

During the campaign, he argued for a $175 billion stimulus plan. (Increasingly, his people are using the phrase "economic recovery plan;" "stimulus" isn't resonating enough with consumers or markets.) But since then, the economy has turned down so sharply that the prevailing wisdom is that, to matter, the infusion has to be bigger. There's talk of $500 billion, even more.

Not all that money is going to go into a public works program for roads, bridges, sewers and whatnot. Obama, for example, has called for giving a $3,000 tax credit to employers for each new hire they make, not to mention his promises of tax cuts for the middle class. Those costs would fall under the plan.

But more so than there has been in a long time, there's going to be money for local projects if communities can convince Washington that they know what they're doing.

Urban affairs columnist Neal Peirce (Read his column here) said in an interview that immediacy will be paramount. "What projects do you have ready and are very close to being constructed" will be the question, he said.

Of course, the Obama people will have criteria for judging ideas, but Peirce thinks the standards will favor cities and metropolitan regions. To that end, projects that promote affordable housing, mass transit or clean energy, or reduce a community's carbon footprint will have an edge, he's betting.

Peirce said that historically the federal government has passed highway dollars through state departments of transportation, letting them set priorities. "The Obama crowd is not going to be satisfied with that," he said, which could mean money going directly to counties and cities.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said Democrats also will be arguing to support job-creating ideas coming out of universities. He added that Congress and Obama's staff want to decide the details about how proposals will be vetted before Jan. 20, so once Obama is inaugurated, all he has to do is sign the legislation.

Brown said his office will be making calls throughout December to Dayton's National Composite Center, the Ohio State's Center for Automotive Research and Wright-Patterson's Air Force Research Laboratory and others, asking what initiatives they're looking to fund that can be brought up quickly.

The effort, Brown said, "is going to be partly a traditional public works program, but with more conditions."

Montgomery County Administrator Deborah Feldman said local officials don't have a list of priorities yet, but they know that they have just a month to get one together. She said her recommendations will include improvements at the airport and spending on Dayton's Tech Town. She said the second and third phases of the I-75 improvements aren't fully funded, but that work is scheduled for 2011 and beyond, which doesn't meet the immediacy test.

Local officials are forever saying that the Dayton region has a well-regarded priority-setting process — organized through the Dayton Development Coalition — that makes it easier for the politicians to advocate for what it wants. Well, that effort is going to be tested for its effectiveness and boldness at a time when local leaders have been scaling back what they've been hoping for. They've been assuming that there isn't federal money for much of anything.

What made sense three months ago couldn't be more wrong now.

The case is irrefutable that the Dayton region has been buffeted, first, by the loss of manufacturing jobs, and now by an economy in collapse. If the community can't figure out how to turn what it has lost into a case for what it needs, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Street Resurfacing Projects Abound
The stimulus funds for street resurfacing are in addition to the projects already slated for 2009 – N. Breiel resurfacing and the $150M I-75, SR 122 widening project (our portion $6M).  

I have an idea; instead of annexing so much of Franklin why don't we let them annex all of Middletown, develope it like they have done their town and then get it back when it's as progressive as it should be.

Mike- the elaborate entrance/gateway to the city. Might be very impressive! BUT- what happens when one passes that "grandiose" area and travels west of Dixie Highway? Things start going downhill from there don't they? The further west you go, the uglier it gets all the way to the river. This is alot of money spent on a "cosmetic" surface feature that is really just hiding the many scars that have been created over the years in town. The east end entrance will look like we have our act together and some areas west will look like "Possum Hollar". Quite the contrast for our little city. Great planning Marty boy!

EXACTLY, Vet!!!  And that is why the money should be spent on "substance", not "symbolism"!!!

That's ok. Glad they're paving something around here although it isn't one of the more traveled roads is it? If they'll pave this "out of the way"-seldom used street, wonder what priority some of the residential roads in poor condition have? Sutphin and University paving is a start, but mercy, do they have a long way to go before they even begin to make a dent in the city's streets. Some haven't been paved for over 40 years with at least 20 more years of waiting- if they last that long. Nice planning and preparation by current and past city administrations as it applies to street maintenance.

Houser Asphalt seal coated the drive in front of the Pool. Don't know if it was a donated job or not.