Government officials had one question in mind Tuesday as they salivated over the $789 billion federal stimulus package President Barack Obama signed into law:
What’s in it for me?
“That seems to be the angle everyone is taking right now,” Matt McAlvanah, press secretary for Sen. Patty Murray, D-Freeland, said Tuesday.
Government officials submitted wish lists to the state and federal agencies that will administer the funds and “will make the decisions” on how it is spent, McAlvanah said, not knowing when that might be.
Washington state will receive $6.7 billion, of which $500 million will go into improvement projects for roads, highways and bridges.
Local governments submitted with lists to the governor’s office, state agencies and federal agencies that will administer the funds.
Jefferson County and the city of Port Townsend are coordinating efforts to receive federal Department of Transportation funding — Jefferson County for eight miles of paving and Port Townsend for improvements to Upper Sims Way — county Administrator Philip Morley said.
The Upper Sims Way project would improve a stretch that includes state Highway 20 and add two roundabouts at the Howard and Thomas street intersections where the road begins its descent into Port Townsend.
The estimated cost is $5 million to $6 million.
Jefferson County proposed an 8-mile asphalt paving project that would be funded by the stimulus program on Chimacum and Center roads between state Routes 19 and 20.
The county is asking for $2.5 million.
It meets the criteria for ability to start construction within 90 days and the roads’ eligibility for federal highway funding, said county Engineer Monte Reinders.
“Most other county roads are typically not eligible,” Reinders said.
Many details of the stimulus plan must be fleshed out, Morley said.
“It’s a helpful sign that some relief is in sight,” he said.
Transportation, ferry
Transportation is among the largest singles chunks of money distributed under the plan.
The state Department of Transportation will parcel out $300 million, while regional transportation organizations will distribute $150 million.
The Peninsula Regional Transportation Planning Organization covers and includes representatives of Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and Mason counties.
It’s chaired by Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman, independent-Port Angeles.
Stimulus package funding possibilities on the North Olympic Peninsula include a westbound passing lane on state Route 19 at the intersection of state Highway 104 and a second new ferry for the Port Townsend-Keystone run, “the big one on our watch list,” Chapman said.
“The bottom line is, I continue to see the need for transportation improvement projects available on the Peninsula,” said Chapman, saying he supported the legislation.
“It’s something we’ve been working on locally here, to maximize our tax dollars.”
But that $60 million nationwide grant program to fund ferry and ferry terminal upgrades Chapman referred to is not a likely source of funding for the ferry, Transportation spokesman Lloyd Brown said.
Most of those funds will likely go toward ferry terminal preservation and improvements, he said.
Clallam County
Bob McChesney, Port of Port Angeles executive director, said that the federal package seems like a lot of money until one realizes how many people are seated at the table.
“As large as the stimulus package is, there are a lot of demands for that funding for a lot of projects throughout the nation, so how actually it gets allocated is the political dynamic that still needs to play itself out,” McChesney said.
“But anything that helps the economic situation is considered within our mission, and should be looked upon favorably.”
Clallam County will receive $1.6 million in Surface Transportation Project funding for commercially vital, heavier-trafficked roads, but there’s no word on other funding, Clallam County Administrator Jim Jones said.
“I don’t have a bit of word on the process for any of the other stimulus categories,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s a little early. This thing got signed just three hours ago.”
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Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
