Economic Recovery and Reinvestment

[Michaela]

In February 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act. WSDOT now stands ready to deliver.
Washington’s leadership in transportation, and our ongoing delivery of
391 projects tied to the 2003 and 2005 state gas tax increases, has
prepared us to translate the federal recovery funding into job
creation in four primary ways:

Advance projects and jobs that would have otherwise been delayed due
to funding shortfalls;
Advance projects and jobs that would address high-priority highway
preservation needs;
Invest in unfunded low-cost, high-benefit transportation system
improvements;
Fund partnership or non-fully funded projects that are “advertisement
ready.”
Over the next year we will:

Convert Washington’s expected $492 million share of the $27.5 billion
highway investment into real jobs for workers and their families;
Advertise $172 million in state highway transportation projects across
the state for contract bidding within 120 days and the remainder
within a year of receiving Recovery Act funds;
Coordinate with local governments to help invest the 30% (roughly $148
million) local share of Act funding;
Actively compete to secure strategic project funding from the $1.5
billion supplemental discretionary grant program managed by USDOT;
Plan aggressively for a potential second wave of redistributed federal
highway funding from other states.

How much will be invested in Washington transportation?
We currently estimate that Washington will receive $492 million in
FHWA funds. The Washington State Legislature is working on a bill that
identifies specific state projects to be built with the state's share
of the federal highway funding.

The local jurisdictions will receive $148 million (30 percent), which
will be allocated according to the STP process. The state will receive
about $345 million (70 percent) for state projects.

About half of the state discretion allotment ($172 million) must be
allocated within 120 days. The rest of the money must be allocated
within a year.

Our priority for projects is:

Advance projects and jobs that would have otherwise been delayed due
to funding shortfalls;
Advance projects and jobs that would address high priority highway
preservation needs;
Invest in unfunded low cost, high benefit improvements;
Fund unprogrammed or non-fully funded projects that are "advertisement
ready."
And, WSDOT stands ready to:

Lead the way in competition for grants under the $60 million National
Ferry Transportation System Grant program;
Award FTA formula funds in record time for qualified rural and urban
transit programs;
Pursue a major portion of the $8 billion in competitive grants for
high-speed intercity passenger rail;
Continue WSDOT's established leadership in public accountability and
project management reporting.

To view the projects, visit http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/Budget/Detail/2009/ht2009leapdoc_0224.pdf