Missouri bridge is first project to break ground with stimulus money
A Missouri transportation project has the distinction of being the first in the nation to break ground using financing from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which President Obama signed into law Tuesday.
The $8.5 million project will replace the Osage River Bridge on Route 17 one mile east of Tuscumbia, in central Missouri near Lake Ozark.
Shane Peck, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said the project, which will be fully financed by the federal government, is scheduled for completion some time in 2010.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials confirmed that the project is the nation’s first to break ground using money from the new legislation, Peck said.
Missouri transportation officials developed a list of 34 projects totaling $510 million they plan to finance with the federal economic recovery money.
The projects, which include road, bridge, air, rail, transit and sidewalk improvements, would create about 14,000 jobs and have a $2.4 billion impact on the state’s economy, MoDOT officials have said.