LaHood: Transport Projects’ Savings Must Be Reinvested
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday that federal money saved on state transportation projects must be used for additional transportation projects.
Reports from around the country are showing that contractor bids to build and repair transportation networks are coming in “substantially below the original engineering estimates,” DOT said in a statement.
In some cases, thanks to fierce competition for the work and the low price of oil, bids are 10% to 30% percent lower than expected, the department said.
In a letter, LaHood urged state governors and transportation secretaries to take those cost savings and use the money for additional projects that will put more people to work.
“Savings you accrue from awarding low bids and from reduced construction costs due to your oversight, and project management should remain in your state to be spent on other eligible transportation projects,” LaHood wrote.
DOT has approved in seven weeks more than 2,400 requests worth $7.5 billion for highway, road, bridge and airport construction and repairs nationwide.
Projects have been approved in every state, and DOT economists estimate that over 39,000 job-years will be created just from the projects approved so far.
