Stimulus-Funded Projects Begin
The Ohio Department of Transportation District 11 began investing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's transportation stimulus dollars in Belmont and Harrison counties last week by upgrading more than 5 miles of Ohio 149 from Flushing to New Athens as well as about a mile of Ohio 9 through New Athens.
Work includes base repairs and asphalt resurfacing.
ODOT District 11 Deputy Director Dick Bible said, ''These investments are putting Ohioans back to work and transforming our transportation system for generations to come. By making this investment, we are extending the life of these pavements by 10 to 12 years.''
The trademark American Recovery and Reinvestment roadway signs, which state, "Putting America Back to Work; Project Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," went up Friday along Ohio 149 at each end of the project. The signs are showing up along Ohio's roadways, interstates and bridges as crews get to work on improvement projects funded with stimulus dollars.
ODOT's contractor, Lash Paving Inc. from Colerain, expects to begin other work immediately. Traffic will be maintained with flaggers.
By Sept. 1, ODOT will have awarded $390.5 million in construction contracts for work on 111 construction projects. This represents more than 50 percent of the department's direct stimulus allocation.
According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 2,500 construction projects are now under way nationwide. A total of 6,000 projects have been identified and approved, which means a total of $17.3 billion will be flowing into the economy over the next two years.
All companies awarded ODOT contracts funded by economic stimulus resources are required to post new job opportunities at www.OhioMeansJobs.com, an online source to match job seekers with employment openings across the state.
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1Vicky
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08-19-09 11:27 AM
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You have it right, oldsteelmaker. It never ceases to amaze me how STUPID D.C. thinks everyone outside the Beltway is. Having lived there before returning here to retire, I know this to be true. My favorite rant right now is the signs, 2 of which I've seen, but have no doubt there's a ton more, that TELL us that this is a STIMULOUS PROJECT going on. Only our govern. would pay millions of extra $ to put up signs telling us they are spending millions of our dollars. Duh! God help us ( since no one else can/will)
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oldsteelmaker
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08-18-09 1:09 AM
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Okay, so someone explain to me how doing some maintenance and pet projects will create jobs folks can retire from in thirty or forty years, while racking up hundreds of millions in debt that will be taken from us and our children and grandchildren in taxes? Using that same $390 million to build a few factories or a couple dozen Walmarts or Targets would do more for the state's economy than all of these projects, and create long term employment.
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