Highway Investment Hits $20 Billion

WASHINGTON The Federal Highway Administration crossed the $20 billion mark in approved obligations for highway, road and bridge projects this week. Of the $26.6 billion available for federal highway and bridge projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more than 75 percent has now been obligated. The $36 million replacement of the I-25/Alameda bridge in Denver, CO, pushed the FHWA past the milestone. The projects approval capped one of the busiest months of highway spending, with nearly $760 million approved. Other projects include: * In August, construction began on the $26.2 million I-279/Fort Duquesne Bridge preservation project in Pittsburgh, PA, designed to improve the safety of the bridge that serves an estimated 81,000 drivers each day * In September, work got underway in San Bernardino, CA, on a massive billion-dollar project, using $128 million in ARRA funds for additional lanes on I-215 to reduce traffic congestion that had been crippling the local economy; * Also in September, work began on the three-mile extension of Minneapolis Trunk Highway 610 to I-94. When completed, this project will reduce traffic congestion and improve area residents quality of life with sound walls and a pedestrian bridge * Last month in Nelsonville, OH, construction started on the 8.5-mile, four-lane highway to divert interstate traffic from local streets. The project is using $138 million in ARRA funds and is the largest Recovery Act underway in Ohio to date. To date, nearly 8,500 highway projects have been approved and nearly 5,000 are underway.