In 2008 the Federal Government began work on an economic stimulus package that would provide substantial investments into the Nation’s transportation system. On February 17, 2009 President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law, authorizing the infusion of about $36 billion for highway, bridge, and transit projects. These federal funds will be allocated to State Departments of Transportation, Transportation Management Areas (TMAs), and Transit Agencies. The state of Kansas is set to receive an estimated $348 million for road and bridge projects and an estimated $30 million for transit.
So what does this mean for the WAMPO Region? WAMPO was authorized to program $16,390,703 worth of ARRA funds for regional transportation projects that is required to be spent within the next year. In response to this WAMPO took the following steps to ensure that these funds are spent wisely and within that timeframe.
· March 10, 2009: The Transportation Policy Body (TPB), at their regular meeting, decided on project criteria and directed staff to open a Request for Projects to allow local jurisdiction to apply for the ARRA funds.
· March 11, 2009 to March 17, 2009: WAMPO opened a Request for Projects to allow local jurisdiction to apply for the ARRA funds.
· March 23, 2009: The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), at their regular meeting, prioritized the submitted project applications and created an ARRA Project List, a Contingency List, and a Second Contingency List. The TAC recommended approval of these three lists to the TPB.
· April 14, 2009: The TPB approved the ARRA Project List, the Contingency List, and the Second Contingency List.
TPB Approved ARRA Project Lists
If you have any questions regarding the above information please contact
Kimberly Spielman at (316) 352-4860 or email at kspielman@wichita.gov.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
To view the entire American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or for additional information about the bill, please click on the following links.
ARRA Monthly Project Progress Report
WAMPO Certification Letter for ARRA Projects
KDOT Certification Letter for WAMPO ARRA Projects
KDOT Certification Letter for Wichita Transit ARRA Projects
The WAMPO 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP)
http://www.wampoks.org/Publications/longrangetransportationplan.htm
The WAMPO Transportation Improvement Program
http://www.wampoks.org/Publications/Transportation+Improvement+Program.htm
The Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations website
http://www.ampo.org/
The Federal Government Recovery website
http://www.recovery.gov/
The Kansas Department of Transportation website
http://www.ksdot.org/EconomicStimulus.asp