Federal officials impressed by MnDOT's stimulus work

Saint Paul, MN. -- Federal highway officials say they're impressed with how quickly Minnesota rolled out road projects to take advantage of the state's $500 million pot of transportation stimulus money.

"I believe you have about 140 projects underway right now," Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez told KARE this week, "So we've been making really incredible progress here in Minnesota."

New data released this week by Congressman Jim Oberstar's transportation committee showed Minnesota already had $310 million in stimlus dollars under contract by August 30th, roughly 62 percent of the state's share of highway money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Minnesota ranked 15th among states in that category. Wyoming led the way, with 95 percent of its stimulus funding spoken for with contracts signed. Virginia trailed the pack, with only 19 percent of its money locked into construction contracts.

Mendez, in the Twin Cities this week to celebrate the opening of the new MnPass "hot lanes" on Interstate 35W, said he believes the money is generating sorely needed jobs.

"It's been a rough time in the construction trades," Mendez remarked, "I have talked personally with many contractors on the national basis and they have said, 'Look Victor, if we weren't doing this project today we'd actually be laying people off'."

The Minnesota Department of Transportation's latest figures show that the stimulus program has saved or created 3,448 jobs in the transportation sector. MnDOT expect updated numbers by October 20th.

"When the stimulus money came along we were able to bring some of the people back into the work force and retain jobs so we wouldn't lose more," Minnesota Transportation Secretary Tom Sorel told KARE, "So it's really been a blessing for us in the industry."

He said MnDOT's portfolio of projects includes many that were already designed and ready to go to competitive bidding as soon as the money was authorized. Sorel said the blend of highway construction will meet the state's goals of congestion relief, safety enhancements and preservation of existing roadways.

"We made sure we had a mix of projects where we could put people back to work and create a healthy industry, bring some of the poeple who needed help back to life via the stimulus program."

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