ARRA, JFMS, and the Stimulus Brothers

Sorry it's been so long folks. Trouble with the site plus a vacation makes for long periods with no blogging.

I thought that this story would have made it into the daily "newspaper" by now, but if so, I couldn't find even a blip. (Great business model they have now. If you don't pay extra for an "enhanced" tv guide that most, if not all, daily newspapers in America provide on Sundays or Wednesdays, then you get nothing! But I digress.)

Out of the $787 Billion stimulus bill or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, 6% or $48 Billion went for transportation projects. Even though it's absurd that people in Ohio, Florida and New Hampshire are paying for Idaho roads while bankrupting our children's future, ACHD applied for almost $15 million in stimulus funds. If ACHD hadn't gotten stimulus money, then some other state would have spent it, and our children would have been bankrupted anyway with nothing to show for it.

Originally, ACHD received almost $9 million which was programmed for roadway overlays and sidewalk repairs throughout Ada County. Many of you reading this will have begun to experience the construction that is rampant. Since ACHD staff went hellbent for leather preparing the applications, ACHD was able to take advantage of other sources of federal funds to construct 96.5% of all the originally envisioned projects. It also was helpful that prices for roadway materials have fallen, allowing the money to go further.

ACHD also applied for almost $1 million in stimulus II funds AKA Jobs for Main Street. The projects included Pedestrian Countdown Heads and the State St Intelligent Transportation System. Neither were funded under son of stimulus but other federal funding was obtained in the amount of $1,580,000 allowing these two efforts to be fully completed at once rather than in stages.

All total, ACHD received close to $16 million dollars. Thank you taxpayers of the great states of everywhere else. And thanks to ACHD staff for their good work.