JEFFERSON CITY , Mo.– The Missouri Department of Transportation has obligated all of the $524.6 million it received in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for MoDOT administered projects, meeting the required deadline a month ahead of schedule.
State departments of transportation are required by ARRA guidelines to obligate (or commit funds to a specific project) all their economic stimulus funds by March 2 or risk losing those uncommitted.
“From launching the nation’s first transportation stimulus project to obligating all of our recovery act funds ahead of schedule, MoDOT has worked rapidly to show that transportation projects do play an integral role in supporting jobs and rebuilding our nation’s economy,” said MoDOT Director Pete Rahn in a written statement. “While these funds don’t come close to covering all of our transportation needs, they have helped fill a short-term gap as other federal and state resources continue to decline.”
To date, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has awarded 187 economic stimulus projects totaling $469 million. The ARRA funding awarded to date will support 12,524 direct, indirect and induced jobs based on Federal Highway Administration estimates.
Pushing to obligate this funding as quickly as possible in a competitive bidding environment resulted in overall bids coming in $24 million under what MoDOT had estimated. That savings enabled the department to add another 53 recovery act projects.
MoDOT got a jumpstart on meeting the deadline by being the first state in the nation to have a recovery project under way within minutes of President Barack Obama signing the act.
More information on Missouri’s recovery act projects can be found at www.modot.org/readytogo.
