WASHINGTON — There are currently 23 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA)-financed highway construction projects underway or completed in New Mexico involving $160.2 million in funds, according to data released today by the Washington, D.C.-based American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The projects underway or completed have supported or are supporting 4,457 jobs in New Mexico that would otherwise not exist, says ARTBA Vice President of Economics & Research Dr. Bill Buechner.
ARRA, signed into law on February 17, 2009, provided $48 billion for transportation improvements over two years, including $27.5 billion for highway, bridge and related construction projects nationwide. The law is having significant impacts on the transportation construction industry in all 50 states.
ARRA provided $252.6 million to New Mexico for highway, bridge and related improvements. This one-time bonus added more than 81 percent to New Mexico’s regular federal highway funds under the current federal surface transportation law — Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) — bringing the state’s total federal highway funding in 2009 to a record $562.8 million.
According to Buechner, a Harvard-trained economist, another 67 projects have been identified and are slated to be under construction shortly.
The following shows the number of ARRA-financed highway projects and amount obligated in each New Mexico congressional district.
Congressional District Number of projects Amount Obligated
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1 10 $33,340,343
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2 42 $69,326,633
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3 38 $146,608,216
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A full report can be obtained by contacting ARTBA’s Jeff Solsby at jsolsby@artba.org or 202-289-4434.
For 108 years, ARTBA has represented the U.S. transportation design and construction industry before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, news media and general public.