Over the past several months, have you noticed sidewalk improvements, repaving of roads and maybe even some bridge repairs? These improvements are the result of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The President signed this act in February, 2009 in an effort to improve our State's infrastructure and economy by saving or creating jobs.
The Federal Highway Administration while working with state partners, were able to meet the deadline of March 1, 2010 set by Congress to obligate 100 percent of the Recovery Act stimulus funds. What this means is $26.6 billion was committed to more than 12,000 road, highway and bridge projects across the country. In addition to putting our fellow citizens back to work, these projects are making our communities safer, greener, more livable, less congested and economically stronger.
Another accomplishment as a result of this Act is SCDOT's 2009 Statewide Sidewalk Enhancement Program. Enhancement funding in the amount of $2 million was reserved for sidewalk improvements in each engineering district. These funds are being used to construct new sidewalks and/or upgrade existing sidewalks to insure compliance with the most current standards with the American Disabilities Act (ADA).
Speaking of new sidewalks or repairs to existing, any suggestions? A representative from the Florence SCDOT office is a member of the Florence Trails Committee. We have begun compiling a list of areas that we feel sidewalks or repairs to existing ones are needed. We will present this list to the local SCDOT representative at our next meeting in October for their review. Of course, any project has federal eligibility requirements and there may be only one or two on our list that qualify, but hey, that's one or two more than we had before.
Send me your suggestions and I'll add them to the list. Even better, come join the Florence Trails Committee. We'd love to have you. You give me the word and I'll add you to the e-mail distribution list.
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