Stimulus News You Can Use is one way WSDOT is working to keep transportation stakeholders updated on the fast-moving effort to put people to work and improve the state’s infrastructure. Each edition will have information on project delivery and highlights. Sign up to receive stimulus news e-mail updates. Visit the Newsletter Archive for earlier editions.

This week's stimulus snapshot

• Three more Recovery Act highway projects completed 
• New lane opens on I-405 near Bothell 
• Two more highway projects certified to receive ARRA funds 
• 10,000th highway stimulus project under way in Ohio
• Important stimulus dates 
• Useful Recovery Act web links 
• Stimulus data table update
  

Three more Recovery Act highway projects completed – Crews completed work on three more stimulus highway projects last week, raising the number of completed projects to 118. To date, 55% of the 214 state and local certified stimulus highway projects have been completed. The table at the bottom of the page has more information on project delivery.

• WSDOT – I-90/Lake Easton to Bullfrog I/C WB – Concrete
• WSDOT – I-405/195th St NE to SR 527 – Auxiliary Lane (see highlight below)
• Wenatchee – Historic Pipeline bridge painting

Washington certifies more projects to receive stimulus highway funds – Two more highway projects have been certified to receive surplus stimulus funds that were not needed for earlier completed projects due to low bids and lower than expected project costs.

• Poulsbo – Noll Roads Improvements: Phase 1 and Phase II – ($246,000 stimulus)
• WSDOT – SR 26/Grant County line to Othello – Resurfacing – ($1,658,000 stimulus)

10,000th Recovery Act highway project under way in Ohio – President Obama and DOT Secretary Ray LaHood kicked off the 10,000th stimulus highway project in Ohio on June 17. The Recovery Act included $26.8 million dedicated for Federal Highway Administration projects, including $492 million in Washington. More information on the milestone is available at LaHood’s Fast Lane blog.

New audit reviews federal high speed rail management and oversight – On June 17, the Government Accountability Office released an updated review of the Federal Railroad Administration’s oversight of the High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program. The report highlighted the need for federal direction on safety requirements and interstate agreements. The Recovery Act provided $8 billion in funds for high-speed rail, including $590 million for improvements in Washington.

Federal Transportation Blog highlights this week – Check the WSDOT Federal Issues blog for recent items on the passenger rail, TIGER II planning grants, and the latest information on federal transportation funding reauthorization.

Highlight of the week

WSDOT opens new northbound lane on I-405 near Bothell

Bothell commuters and regional drivers alike now have a quicker drive north during commute hours thanks to the opening of WSDOT’s new lane on northbound I-405 in Bothell from NE 195th Street to SR 527. WSDOT celebrated the new lane at the Canyon Park park-and-ride on June 17.

WSDOT and contractor Kiewit Pacific Co. have spent the past eight months working on this crucial addition to northbound I-405. Crews added the lane in one of the area’s worst traffic bottlenecks, where more than 80 congestion-related collisions have occurred in the past three years. Most of these collisions have been related to cars weaving through traffic to enter and exit the freeway. The extra capacity from the new lane will allow drivers more time to merge into and out of the northbound lanes. Drivers will enjoy noticeably faster speeds during peak commute times and easier access to the Canyon Park park-and-ride.

This $19.3 million project was not scheduled to open to traffic until 2015, but thanks to the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funding, the project received the financial kick-start it needed to move forward.

WSDOT Project Engineer Chad Brown explained that crews worked around the clock to get the job done ahead of schedule. “I want to thank the Bothell residents for their patience during construction,” Brown said. 
 

Important dates

July 8: Tentative bid opening date for North Spokane Corridor TIGER project
July 14: Next performance report due to Office of Management and Budget
July 16: TIGER II pre-application deadline 
July 20: Next performance report due to the T & I Committee
August 11: Transit application deadline for TIGGER grants 
August 23: Final TIGER II application deadline
September 30: Deadline for obligating Recovery Act highway funds

Websites of interest

WSDOT ARRA website: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/funding/stimulus
WSDOT Federal Transportation Issues blog: http://wsdotfederalfunding.blogspot.com
Washington recovery website: http://www.recovery.wa.gov/
Federal recovery website: http://www.recovery.gov/
FHWA recovery website: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/economicrecovery/index.htm
Federal Transit Administration recovery website: www.fta.dot.gov/recovery
Federal Railroad Administration recovery website: http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/2153
Federal Aviation Administration recovery website: http://www.faa.gov/recovery
OMB recovery website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/recovery_default/

This week by the numbers (project dollars in millions)