More than a year after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed, significant amounts of work are still hitting the street in the Mid-Atlantic region. All states met the federally-imposed March 2, 2010 deadline to obligate all ARRA highway funds, however some states have been faster to award contracts. Pennsylvania was one of the first in the nation to obligate its funds and the vast majority of projects are underway. Meanwhile, Virginia was the last state to begin awarding projects and now has a significant number of projects to award. As of the Feb. 17 anniversary of the signing of ARRA by President Obama, roughly half of Virginia’s projects had yet to be awarded.
Still other transportation funds continue to make their way to the region. In early March, Maryland received $26.3 million in stimulus grants from the U.S. Dept of Transportation for mass transit projects, including $17.1 million for upgrades to the Mondawmin Transit Center in Baltimore.