By Cliff White

Pennsylvania will receive between $1.2 and $1.5 billion to be directed to state infrastructure improvements following President Obama’s signing of the $787 billion stimulus bill on Feb. 17.  An estimated $197 million will go toward highway repair and $46 million toward public transportation projects in the 16 counties inside Pennsylvania Business Central’s coverage area.

A preliminary list of projects under consideration was prepared in advance of the bill’s signing by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), working in conjunction with Metropolitan and Rural Transportation Organizations (MTOs and RTOs). However, as of press time, state and elected representatives were still reading through the law to determine the exact dollar figure allocated for state infrastructure, and several MTO and RTO officials said the total number of projects may be scaled back if the funding isn’t there to pay for them.

Brad Beigay, the study secretary for the Cambria County Metropolitan Transportation Organization, said his organization proposed five “shovel-ready” projects based on its projected financial allotment of $10.6 million, but that the list was subject to change based on how PennDOT elects to distribute the infrastructure funds.

“It all depends on the money. It’s up to PennDOT at this point,” Beigay said. “As of right now, we’re expecting most, if not all of our projects to be on the final list. But the best we can do now is wishful thinking, unless PennDOT calls us back to ask for further recommendations, which is a possibility.”

The state faces time constraints in its handling of the stimulus cash. PennDOT must obligate half of the funds it receives within 120 days or risk their forfeiture. Any funds are left uncommitted by local entities a year from now will also be forfeited.

Centre County Metropolitan Transportation Organization Director Tom Zilla said PennDOT had informed him MTOs and RTOs would receive final numbers within seven days of the bill’s signing. Zilla said he believed timely use of the stimulus package would greatly benefit Centre County.

“Any time that we can bring an influx of additional funds into the economic process, that’s a good thing,” Zilla said. “The amount of projects we have always exceeds the amount of funding available. With the stimulus funding, we’ll be able to make up some ground.”

Southern Alleghenies Regional Planning and Development Commission Executive Director Edward Silvetti, who has been involved in determining the projects necessary for the six counties his organizations serves – a Rural Transportation Organization representing Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties – said he supported the stimulus package, and that he perceived PennDOT as hurrying to speed the process along.

“There’s no question it will pump a tremendous amount of money into the economy and put a tremendous number of people to work,” Silvetti said. “From every indication, PennDOT wishes to get these projects under contract as quickly as possible, because the intent of the bill is to get money flowing into the economy as quickly as possible.”

PennDOT spokesman Steve Chizmar said the preliminary project list gave his department a good head start. Now that the bill has become law, Chizmar said, PennDOT is in the process of “carefully reading the actual legislation and building our list from there.”

“The funding for infrastructure projects was slightly less than what the preliminary list was built on,” Chizmar acknowledged. ”We will be looking at the original projects list to see what makes sense and what is doable.”

Chizmar said he didn’t want to speculate on when a final list of approved projects would be available, but said, “We hope to move quickly.”

“The faster we can get to work on these projects, the quicker they can start to have a positive effect on the economy of Pennsylvania,” Chizmar said.

Determining the exact number of federal dollars allocated to the state is just one step in the process of actually beginning the infrastructure projects. Several phases remain before the projects are actually implemented, and some groups have concerns that the quickened pace could lead to problems down the road.

“Haste, generally, makes waste. It all depends on how transparent the process is,” said Tim Potts, co-president of the group Democracy Rising PA. “If it is clear to citizens that how the money is being distributed and that the lowest responsible bidder is being awarded the contracts, then I don’t see any problem with it. However, if they don’t reveal the bids and aren’t transparent about the process, then it is definitely something Pennsylvanians should be skeptical about.”

Commonwealth Foundation  Director of Policy Research Nathan Benefield also was skeptical of the process.

“Historically, PennDOT has had all kinds of problems with how contracts have been awarded, with little oversight and minimal transparency,” Benefield said. “It’s clearly dangerous to expedite the process when there are already problems there.”

As part of the stimulus legislation, the federal government created a Web site, www.recovery.org, which is intended as a source of information in tracking stimulus funds. A message on the site reads: “The President has made it clear that every dollar spent on our economic recovery must be subject to unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability.”

Because it is federal legislation, members of the state Assembly and Senate have little control over where or how the money will be spent – no enacting legislation is necessary to make the funds available to PennDOT. Even so, some elected officials have also expressed hesitation at the quickened pace set for spending the stimulus money.

“This bill is going to be a huge help for Pennsylvania,” said Rep. Scott Conklin (D-Centre County). “But it’s a bit scary to see so much money go out the door. You do get a little hesitant. I think that’s why the public is averse to more stimulus spending – they saw the first stimulus package get passed and they wondered, ‘Where did all that money end up?’”