One year to the day after President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood trotted out 51 new projects that will receive funding.

These TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Discretionary Grant Program projects were included in the Recovery Act to spur a national competition for innovative, multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects that promise significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, a region or the nation.  Projects funded with the $1.5 billion allocated in the Recovery Act include improvements to roads, bridges, rail, ports, transit and intermodal facilities.


LaHood says the DOT was “flooded” with more than 1,400 applications from all 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia requesting funding for almost $60 billion worth of projects – 40 times the amount available through the program.


In California, projects receiving the TIGER grants include Doyle Drive ($46 million); Alameda Corridor East: Colton Crossing ($33.8 million); California Green Trade Corridor/Marine Highway Project for the ports of Oakland, Stockton and West Sacramento ($30 million); and the Otay Mesa Port-of-Entry/I-805/SR 905 Interchange ($20.2 million).


No matter where you stand politically on the stimulus, you have to admit that the current administration is pulling out all stops in promoting these newly-funded projects. And although the funds are slowly funneling through state, county and city economies, job prospects are slowly looking better.


Even the Associated General Contractors broke out of its funk and notes that stimulus-funded infrastructure projects are saving and creating more direct construction jobs than initially estimated, according to a new analysis of federal data released last week. “The stimulus is one of the very few bright spots the construction industry experienced last year and is one of the few hopes keeping it going in 2010,” says Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “The stimulus is saving construction jobs, driving demand for new equipment and delivering better and more efficient infrastructure for our economy.”


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Just a quick note that the fourth-annual Allen Matkins Green Building Survey, which gauges the opinions of professionals involved in green building and LEED certification, is again soliciting responses.


Last year’s survey, completed by more than 900 respondents, addressed current attitudes towards green building, its risks, costs, certification processes and trends.


Last year, respondents wholeheartedly endorsed building green, with 93.4% of survey participants agreeing that it is worth the time and effort.


According to Bryan Jackson, chair of Allen Matkins’ Green and Sustainable Construction Practice Group, the survey is one of the “broadest surveys of green building professionals in the industry” and includes design professionals, developers and owners, contractors/subcontractors, claims professionals, consultants and attorneys.


Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP, founded in 1977, is a California-based law firm with approximately 240 attorneys practicing out of seven offices in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, San Diego, Century City, Del Mar Heights and Walnut Creek.


The deadline for responses is Feb. 28. To access the survey, click
here.