Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Some Reality of Recovery Act {Stimulus} Funds

Federal Stimulus Dollars Spur Construction Work in Virginia


11/28/2010 - Federal stimulus dollars funded a major rehabilitation of Danville's mass transit administrative maintenance facility and supplied locals with months of work just as construction contracts became harder to get.

The Danville Transit System received $899,000 in stimulus money from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation earlier this year. More than $650,000 of the money was used to upgrade the transit building and parking lot located off of South Boston Road near the humane society.

"Definitely, there is a direct benefit for the local economy," said Marc Adelman, director of transportation services for Danville. "The majority of funds stayed here in Danville."

About $200,000 of the money bought two new buses. No additional positions were created but bus acquisition and capital improvement projects generated the work equivalent of almost four full-time jobs for a year, Adelman said. {read rest}

Stimulus Funds Give Huge Boost to Outdoor Recreation


11/28/2010 - Trails, campgrounds and forest access have been major stimulus beneficiaries from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Hikers were seeing something as rare as Sasquatch in the backcountry of national forests this summer -- workers. By fall, hunters were finding trails cleared, bridges replaced and campgrounds expanded and repaved in locations scattered throughout the Inland Northwest

Millions of the $275 billion in stimulus funding to create jobs were earmarked for contracts or grants to repair, maintain and improve recreational infrastructure.

Paving and completion of the Fish Lake rail trail out of Spokane was among the first stimulus-boosted projects completed in the northwest because it was "shovel ready" when funds were approved in the spring of 2009. {read rest}

White House: Stimulus Hits 'Public Investment' High


22-NOV-10 - If the stimulus measure is keeping construction workers employed, the months just past represented a new high point--depending on how you add it all up. {This needs subscription to read rest}

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