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Economic Stimulus: Smart Choices for Economic Recovery

Economic Stimulus: Focus on the States

SELC is urging the Departments of Transportation and other state-level decision makers in our six states to prioritize “fix-it first” projects to put people to work quickly, address urgent needs, and do the least harm. In addition, states should invest transit funds to help meet the need for new rail cars, replace old buses with clean-energy vehicles, create or expand new transit services, and other alternative transportation projects.

Examples of "good" and "bad" projects include:

Alabama:

  • Yes - Repair pavement on I-59 in Etowah and De Kalb counties.
  • No - Build bypasses around Anniston and Linden.

Georgia:

  • Yes - Follow-through on 288 "fix-it first" jobs as identified on GDOT's "wish list."
  • Yes - Invest in MARTA and Georgia's other transit providers.
  • No - Build the Fall Line Freeway extension, the Truman Parkway extension, and the proposed I-20 interchange in McDuffie County .

North Carolina: 

  • Yes - Replace the I-85 span (built more than half a century ago) over the Yadkin River to secure this vital connection between the Charlotte, Triad and Triangle.
  • Yes - Invest in Charlotte's wildly successful but underfunded rail line.
  • No - Spend $2 billion on loop roads and bypasses as envisioned on NCDOT's "wish list."

South Carolina:

  • Yes - Upgrade tracks for the Summerville-to-Charleston commuter rail line and for freight lines for the Charleston Port.
  • No - Spend $2.4 billion-almost 70% of SCDOT's "wish list"-just for construction of I-73.

Tennessee:

  • Yes - Invest in the 64 shovel-ready transit and rail projects on TDOT's "wish list."
  • No - Spend funds on expanding highways such as the Shelbyville Bypass.

Virginia: 

  • Yes - Buy locomotives for the Virginia Railway Express and buses for Blacksburg, Charlottesville, and Hampton Roads, and invest in the Dulles Rail project.
  • No - Build the proposed new Route 460 and Tri-County Parkway, and double the width of I-81.

 

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