Earlier this week, Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez was in Orange County, California, to help break ground on the West County Connectors interchange project near Garden Grove.
This $400 million undertaking is supported by $50 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The SR22/I-405/I-605 interchange is a gateway for traffic between Los Angeles and southern California. It is one of the busiest interchanges in America, with more than 327,000 drivers passing through it each day, causing substantial traffic congestion and significant wait times. Adding a second HOV lane in both directions on I-405 will reduce congestion and highway noise and improve local air quality.
As Administrator Mendez said in California:
"This project represents everything President Obama had in mind when he signed the Recovery Act: greater safety; less congestion; and, most of all, jobs for people who are ready to roll up their sleeves and go to work!"
When completed, the connector will also enhance safety for the thousands of motorists who rely on the SR22, I-405 and I-605 each day. Currently, carpool users must cross multiple general-purpose lanes to get from SR 22 to I-405 and to the I-605. This results in significant weaving, posing risks to everyone using these routes.
The Recovery Act is not just creating jobs, it's helping shore up America's infrastructure.
And, in case you thought the greatest impact of the Recovery Act was behind us, I want to make it clear that summer 2010 is going to be the most active season yet with thousands of projects underway across America.
FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez addresses the crowd in Orange County, CA. Courtesy OC Register
FHWA has given the green light to 900 projects. While 122 of those have already been competed, there are nearly 800 road projects underway or getting started in that state to generate good jobs and renew American infrastructure.
Across the nation, we have funded more than 12,000 projects with Recovery Act dollars, and more than 10,000 of those are under construction this summer.
So this DOT is heating up. This July, for example, we'll have six times as many highway projects underway as last July. We're making travel safer and less congested, and we're putting people back to work.
At DOT, as elsewhere in America, the Recovery Act is in full-swing.
The work on these connectors is of great importance to reducing congestion at one of Orange County's worst bottlenecks. So that will be great and it will give jobs to many people who need work. So this project will pump a lot of money into the County's economy and increase the amount of money that cities and the county have to do things with through increasing the amount of sales tax coming in which will lead to still more new projects and jobs. Orange County will lead the state out of the recession and California will lead the country out of the resession. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.
Posted by: Michael E. Bailey | June 20, 2010 at 05:15 PM