States ready to go forward with highway projects are seeing equally eager construction companies put in bids as low as 50% below budget, and far ahead of schedule.
"The California Department of Transportation, which is expected to get more than $2.5 billion in stimulus funds for highways, is "darn close to digging holes," said Douglas Failing, Caltrans' director for Los Angeles and Ventura counties. He said the agency plans to spend $189 million to improve the 405 Freeway, mostly by building a long-sought carpool lane on the northbound side through the Sepulveda Pass. Caltrans hopes to award a contract by the end of the month, with work beginning about mid-May."
"Los Angeles County expects to receive $450 million for highways under the stimulus for transportation projects, a chunk of which will go to the cities.
John Horsley, executive director of the American Assn. of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said state highway departments have been gearing up for federal spending ever since summer, when then-presidential candidates Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) began talking about the need for further stimulus."
Read the full story: Highway projects 'ahead of schedule and under budget,' Obama says
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
This MA town is drowning in its own sewage — and residents like it that way
Susan Murcott, a waste water expert, said if Carlisle didn't address their leaking sewage, the problem could turn “deadly.”
Feds to more closely scrutinize proposed Amtrak facility’s environmental impact
The Federal Railroad Administration had initially said the facility qualified for a less extensive environmental review.
Boston is hard to build housing in: its chief of planning wants to keep it that way
Chief of Planning Kairos Shen said she would not make changes to Boston’s affordability requirements for new housing, which critics say have slowed down development.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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One Hundred Miles
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