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AREA HIGHWAY, BRIDGE
PROJECTS ARE
CANDIDATES FOR STIMULUS FUNDS
13 local public
transportation projects included
in state’s $1.5 billion “wish list,”
Boscola says
HARRISBURG (JAN
21) – Pennsylvania’s Department of
Transportation has already made a list –
and State Senator Lisa M. Boscola is
checking it twice to make sure that as
many local road improvement projects as
possible receive federal funding under
the economic stimulus package now before
Congress.
Next week the Senate
Transportation Committee will meet to
publicly discuss $1.5 billion in “shovel
ready” public transportation projects
across the state that could be completed
within six months of receiving federal
stimulus funds.
Pennsylvania’s share of
President Obama’s
proposed $825 billion stimulus package
is expected to be about $1 billion.
“Obviously, some of the
key details have yet to be worked out in
Washington,” Boscola said. “But, in the
meantime, we really need to get our act
together and be prepared to move quickly
so we can take full advantage of every
dollar we receive. My goal is to
maximize both the number of major
infrastructure improvements we can make
locally and the number of new jobs we
can create throughout this area.”
Congress is likely to
vote on the stimulus package as soon as
next week, she said.
“PennDOT has identified
13 local projects that are good, solid
candidates to receive federal stimulus
funding for highway and bridge
improvements,” Boscola said. “If each
of those projects receives funding, it
will be a tremendous boost for our
region’s economy and will lay a
significant amount of groundwork for
future economic growth.”
Boscola was recently
appointed to the Senate Transportation
Committee, which is now chaired by
Senator Rob Wonderling who represents
Easton. The Committee will hold its
public hearing on PennDOT’s list of
projects on Tuesday, January 27th,
in Harrisburg.
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