Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith has identified $140 million in local, ready-to-go infrastructure projects eligible for funding through the federal economic stimulus package working its way through Congress.
Smith’s projects — which he said could be completed in six months with adequate funding — include road resurfacing, curb, gutter and alley improvements, pumping stations, and school construction. The Democrat itemized the projects in a letter sent this month to Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has said that as much as $350 million in federal stimulus money could be available for the 2010 budget.
“We share the state’s hope that a timely infusion of federal funding will provide meaningful relief by protecting and creating jobs while simultaneously improving the county’s infrastructure,” Smith wrote in his letter.
The list is similar to a $326 million package Mayor Sheila Dixon compiled in December after meeting with then-President-elect Barack Obama in Chicago. She and about 20 other mayors asked Obama to approve a $90 billion “Main Street” stimulus plan that she said could create half of the 2.5 million jobs he has said he would like to see created over the next two years.
O’Malley, too, has created a list of “shovel-ready” projects largely focused on roads, tunnels and bridges. The governor postponed a round of budget cuts scheduled before the state’s Board of Public Works last week, saying Maryland could be receiving about $3 billion in federal funds over two years.
“If the state knew where the money was going, then we could begin planning,” said O’Malley’s spokesman, Shaun Ademec.
Smith’s list includes 150 alley projects — 45 of which were rated in “terrible” condition –and $36 million in pumping station improvements. He identified nine county schools with ready-to-go projects, including a new elementary school in Towson for $5 million.
An economic stimulus plan depends on ready-to-go projects such as the ones identified by local leaders, said Darius Irani, an economics professor at Towson University.
“If we have the chance now to improve water and sewer and telecommunications, those are assets that will stay with us the next generation and beyond,” Irani said.
