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Metro and Md. Ready to Spend Stimulus Funds

(2/19/2009) Metro and Maryland transportation officials said yesterday that they would use their share of the $787 billion stimulus package to pay for bridge maintenance, new buses and other large rehabilitation projects. Officials said the projects would create jobs while rebuilding the region's infrastructure.

The Transportation Planning Board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments approved $230 million in projects for Metro yesterday, including $40 million to replace its oldest buses and crumbling rail station platforms and $48 million to construct a rail-car inspection and testing building that would get new and rehabilitated cars in service more quickly.

Meanwhile, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) announced that the state would use its first wave of stimulus money to jump-start $365 million in transportation work, including road resurfacing and bridge maintenance projects. Work on some projects will start within 30 days, he said.

Virginia and the District have not released their plans, but Virginia officials have said that stimulus money would go toward rehabilitating infrastructure before working on new projects.

But the regional transportation board, which must approve all area projects applying for federal funds, dealt a setback to an approved project: the expansion of Interstate 66 westbound inside the Beltway. The project would essentially create a third westbound lane on the highway, which is restricted to two lanes in each direction inside the Beltway.

In a vote applauded by Arlington County officials and opponents of the widening, the board decided to require that the state conduct a transportation study of the I-66 corridor before the project can move forward. Virginia officials said the decision would delay the widening project three to four years.

O'Malley said that the Maryland projects aren't huge. "There is not a Golden Gate Bridge or Bay Bridge among them," he said yesterday at a meeting of the state Board of Public Works, which voted to approve about $3 million to renovate the MARC station in Laurel. "But they are needed throughout the state."

Maryland will receive $610 million in new federal money for road and transit projects, and a second phase will be announced in coming weeks. The money will put a dent in a $1 billion backlog of projects to preserve the system that transportation officials were forced to defer because of budget cuts.

"The sprint started this morning," Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said yesterday, describing the projects as "dozens of little next-day projects that will maximize jobs for Maryland companies." The administration estimates that the federal money will create 17,500 transportation jobs, about 10,000 from the first wave of spending.

The projects include $223 million for highway work, including $146 million for resurfacing, and $142 million for transit projects, $65 million of which would pay for 100 hybrid buses and equipment. There are millions of dollars to build safety guardrails on highways and bring sidewalks in Montgomery and Prince George's counties into compliance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act. Ten bridges in Prince George's County will be cleaned and painted.

O'Malley said that transportation officials have been meeting with contractors "to let them know that work is on the way."

"Many of them are holding on by their fingernails and just feeling like they're living day to day, postponing tough decisions about laying people off," the governor said. Some of the projects were bid, but contractors were told that the state would have to hold off. Others will be competitively bid in coming weeks, officials said.

Metro Chief Administrative Officer Emeka Moneme said the transit agency's list of stimulus projects will translate into better service and reduced operating costs. For example, Moneme said, investing $24.2 million in energy-efficient station lighting will save energy costs well into the future.

It's possible that Metro's $230 million in stimulus funds will pressure the agency's board to move some money from the capital budget to the operating budget. Metro faces a $154 million shortfall in its $1.3 billion operating budget.

Ronald F. Kirby, transportation director for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, said that under the stimulus funding formula, roughly $40 million of Maryland's $610 million will be earmarked for the state's Washington suburbs.

Virginia will receive $694.5 million for statewide distribution and $208 million for urban areas, of which about $52 million will go to Northern Virginia.

The District will receive $160 million.

An additional $1.5 billion will be awarded nationwide through a competitive grant. Kirby said the Washington region would work on a $300 million request that would fund a network of regional bus initiatives. One of the projects would be the K Street NW transitway proposal for the District.

Kirby said that unlike in original congressional proposals, much of the stimulus money will not have to be allocated immediately. That gives policymakers and planners time to prioritize projects.

He said he expects that by next month, Virginia and the District will have detailed lists of projects and that the regional bus proposal will be more fully outlined.

By: Eric M. Weiss and Lisa Rein, Washington Post Staff Writers

© 2009 The Washington Post Company

Link to the article: Metro and Md. Ready to Spend Stimulus Funds

Source: The Washington Post