Stimulus Contracting Picks Up In Highway, Transit Markets

The pace of contracting for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds is picking up in the highway and transit sectors. A new House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee report on the economic-stimulus legislation shows that 2,901 highway and transit projects, valued at almost $10 billion, have been put out for bid in 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia as of April 30.

It adds that 1,099 of those projects, totaling $3.5 billion, are under contract.

The committee report, released May 21, says that work has started on 545 projects, totaling $2.1 billion.

The new figures show gains from March 31 results, when 1,380 highway and transit projects, valued at $6.4 billion, were out for bid and work had started on 263 projects, totaling $1.1 billion, according to the committee.

The reports only cover programs under the "T&I" panel's jurisdiction, such as highways, transit, rail, aviation, Clean Water and Corps of Engineers civil works. It excludes such other major stimulus programs as those managed by the Depts. of Energy, Defense, Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs.

The ARRA legislation was signed into law on Feb. 17.

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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