FHWA Recovery Act Map tells a great story with few words

Here's something that is kind of fun and very useful. The web team at our Federal Highway Administration has created an interactive map of the U.S. that shows every single one of our 12,000+ Recovery Act road projects.

It's very simple: Each of the 12,000 dots represents a project. That's a lot of dots. And clicking on any given one of them brings up information about that project.

But more important than the number of dots is that every dot in every state represents jobs. And whether we're keeping someone from unemployment or hiring someone back, these Recovery Act projects are creating jobs. Tens of thousands of jobs.

Those dots also add up to a lot of safer, smoother miles for you, your loved ones, and the commercial truck drivers who transport the goods we use from place to place.

I'm doubly proud of this map. First, because it reflects a lot of hard work from a lot of people at DOT, in FHWA, and in states like yours. This kind of achievement certainly doesn't happen without effective, dedicated partners.

And second, I'm proud of the map itself, which demonstrates that this DOT is a leader in government transparency.

Now, all along, we have faithfully reported our stimulus data. For some people, however, reports don't quite capture the historic scale of what we've done. This map does exactly that.

And for those of you looking for more analytical data, the folks at the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) have worked hard to create a great set of state-by-state fact sheets about Recovery Act Spending in the States.

So please, check out the work of the FHWA web team, poke around the map, and take a moment to consider the real benefits each of those dots represents: renewed infrastructure, men and women securely on the job, and a DOT that is working for you.

Comments

[Mouhamad A. Naboulsi]

We need a repair about two miles south of the 0982116 project for a bridge with 4 highway access that is literally crumbling. Who do we contact to add the bridge to the list?

Best regards
Mouhamad A. Naboulsi
http://actplace.net

[Alan]

Wow, lots of dots. I would love to see an overlay with concentrations of democratic voters/states and project dots! It would also be very interesting to see a reflection of minority population densities.

Without much analysis it isn't too hard to determine that almost all the dots are in the biggest Democratic states like Illinois or New York. I wonder how that happened?

[Michael E. Bailey]

The ARRA has had a huge benefit for the people. In terms of construction, the road building and maintenance part is about all of that industry that is working now although new house permits have started to increase. Transit projects with funding from ARRA will also have important impacts on the 21st Century transportation system. The only way we can meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act is with a good transit system. In thelast legislative session, the California Legislature passed and the Governor signed legislation creating the Employment First Policy for disabled persons. This is aimed at reducing the current 85% unemployment rate of disabled persons in California and reducing the large underemployment rate that has more disabled persons who do work being in workshops instead of community based supported employment. (Back in the last boom year of 2007, the unemployment rate for disabled persons in California was still at 68%.) But the Employment First Policy will not work without good transit systems to get people to and from their jobs because the huge majority of disabled persons can't drive and are transit dependent. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[Lisa]

That is very impressive with the commitment to infrastructure. The dots do appear to be concentrated on the eastern side.

[Marlene Mahoney]

Very impressive. Glad to see employees from various agencies within DOT back to work on these ever so needed projects. I'm sure these employees have once again placed their professionalism back to working extra extra long hours so once again this can be the success it was last year.
Kudos to all and you, Ray LaHood, for your tireless efforts to make this a reality.
Are the same FRA.DOT employees from Crum Lynne back working here as well? It certainly would beat early retirement wouldn't it, paulushook?
Success = always a high price to pay.

[Marlene Mahoney]

Ok, glad to see the continuation of these projects. The overall success depends solely on the loyalty of the DOT employees who are determined to work long hours to make this successful. My kudos to all at the fra.dot.gov

[Refurbished Cisco Equipment]

It looks like the route from Mexico to Canada is getting ready to get started.A bill President Clinton past years back.

[jewelry reviews]

Glad to see employees from various agencies within DOT back to work on these ever so needed projects. I'm sure these employees have once again placed their professionalism back to working extra extra long hours so once again this can be the success it was last year.