The Delaware Department of Transportation has more than $200 million in projects they’re considering funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that President Barack Obama signed Feb. 17.
The bill would only give DelDOT $122 million for highways and bridges, and $17.6 million for transit, so the public is asked to help decide which projects will get the stimulus money.
The projects on DelDOT’s stimulus wish list were chosen for their timeframe and likeliness to provide jobs for Delawareans. Fifty percent of the projects funded through stimulus money must be ready to advertise within 120 days and the other 50 percent must be ready within one year.
Darrel Cole, director of public relations for DelDOT, said the projects would create 1,200 jobs.
“This really is all about jobs,” he said. “When we do a project, we put people to work. We don’t construct the roads ourselves, we hire companies. A typical project creates 30 to 40 jobs per $1 million. That’s a huge impact on the economy.”
Middletown resident David McGuigan, vice president of business development with infrastructure contracting company George & Lynch, said the stimulus money will affect more than just those in the construction trade.
“It’s not only our workers, it’s all the people affected by our industry,” he said. “The network of businesses affected by our industry is far reaching when it comes to all the materials, consultants, equipment, surveyors and including all the government employees involved. It takes a whole team to get a project built.”
McGuigan said the money would sustain current jobs and also allow infrastructure construction companies to rehire some employees who were laid off.
“We have 300 plus employees and a lot of people counting on new work,” he said. “The construction industry is ready to put people to work today.”
Three of the targeted projects on DelDOT’s list are in the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area.
One is rehabilitation of the Sen. William V. Roth Bridge on Del. 1 over the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, which will cost $2.8 million.
Expansion of the Park & Ride on Del. 299 near the Del. 1 interchange would cost $1.4 million and could include a new signalized intersection at the entrance to the lot, which will be relocated.
The DART Mid-County Facility expansion on U.S. 13 will include construction of six maintenance bays and storage for maintenance of DART buses. That project would cost $7.2 million.
These and the other projects were presented for comment at a public workshop held Feb. 23 by DelDOT and the Wilmington Area Planning Council where drafts of the Fiscal Year 2010-2013 Transportation Improvement Plan and the Fiscal Year 2010-2015 Delaware Capital Transportation Plan were shown.
Projects that are not funded through the stimulus plan will still be part of the TIP or CTP plans.
The comment period for the TIP ends Monday, March 9. To comment on the TIP projects, mail comments to WILMAPCO at 850 Library Ave., Suite 100, Newark, DE 19711; email wilmapco@wilmapco.org; or go to the WILMAPCO virtual public workshop at www.wilmapco.org/tip.
Comments on the CTP can be mailed to DelDOT Public Relations, P.O. Box 778, Dover, DE 19903.
Statewide, Del. —
