Stimulus on track, but what was that shovel ready talk
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, aka the Stimulus, was signed into law in early February 2009 and in hometown Danville, Virginia the new congressman Tom Perriello announced in April 2009 that $29 million in funding had been granted to rebuild the deteriorating Robertson Bridge. This bridge is one of three that crosses the Dan River and connects the two major sides of this town of approximately 42,000. The repair and rebuilding project was overdue and the funded work will also develop the undercarriage of the bridge as a conduit of significant power and communications cables plus water and natural gas lines to a large new industrial site(for attracting needed industry) on the north side of town. That all sounds good, needed infrastructure spending in a rural city that needs a shot in the arm both in terms of near term construction jobs and long term development.
Since that time there was no evidence of any work of consequence whatsoever. Today, March 1, 2010, the Danville Register and Bee reports preliminary work needed to be done before construction can begin is well under way. Bids for the bridge project are due March 24 and an award of the contract is expected to be made within 60 days of the submission. Initial work on the project will begin 30 days after that and the completion date for the project is set for August 31, 2012. That means that the project will begin 14 months after it was announced. It then will be completed three and a half years after the announcement. This bridge is not much more than 300yards long if that.
The lastest stats on how much of the stimulus money has been spent versus how much has been allocated have not been seen here but up until a few months ago the difference between the two was astonishingly large. The above is an on the ground example. This lagging stimulus may be good news for the economy over the next year or two, but what does it say about our efficiency. In a rare moment, this post will just be left as reporting with the opinion making being the reader's responsibility.
Since that time there was no evidence of any work of consequence whatsoever. Today, March 1, 2010, the Danville Register and Bee reports preliminary work needed to be done before construction can begin is well under way. Bids for the bridge project are due March 24 and an award of the contract is expected to be made within 60 days of the submission. Initial work on the project will begin 30 days after that and the completion date for the project is set for August 31, 2012. That means that the project will begin 14 months after it was announced. It then will be completed three and a half years after the announcement. This bridge is not much more than 300yards long if that.
The lastest stats on how much of the stimulus money has been spent versus how much has been allocated have not been seen here but up until a few months ago the difference between the two was astonishingly large. The above is an on the ground example. This lagging stimulus may be good news for the economy over the next year or two, but what does it say about our efficiency. In a rare moment, this post will just be left as reporting with the opinion making being the reader's responsibility.
posted by John Borden at 2:59 PM
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