City leaders told U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore on Monday that more than $5.6 million worth of stimulus projects should be under way in the city by the end of the year.
“We think the money we have received will have been well spent,” City Manager David Corliss told Moore as part of a visit the congressman made to Lawrence. “It is really being used to take care of existing infrastructure.”
Corliss said construction work should begin by the end of the year on three major construction projects the city has received funding for. They are:
• Intersection improvements at North Second and Locust streets. The city received $2 million in stimulus money for the project. Bids will be taken in June, Corliss said.
• A rebuilding of the Clinton Parkway bike paths west of Wakarusa Drive. The city received $800,000 through a special bike and pedestrian trail program that was funded by the stimulus bill. Work — which will involve rebuilding the paths using concrete — will begin by December.
• Work to rebuild New York Street as a brick street from Ninth to 12th streets. The project received $950,000 as part of a special grant program, funded by the stimulus, to make transportation-related improvements to historical structures or roadways.
Corliss also said he expects a recommendation to be delivered to city commissioners later this month on how the city should spend $1.9 million it has received in stimulus money for new buses.
A group of city and Kansas University staff members is examining the feasibility of purchasing buses that run on renewable fuels instead of the standard diesel buses.
Moore said he believed the city projects were the type of work Congress had in mind when it approved the stimulus funding. He also said he was pleased with the early results of the stimulus package, although he is concerned about the mounting national debt.
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oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
huh? $950,000 for new york street in lawrence? our whole town could be repaved for that amount, looks like lawrence continues to waste money
Danimal (anonymous) says…
Two of those projects are a huuuuuuge wast of taxpayer dollars. Why not fix some potholes with that $1.75 million instead of fancy brick streets and bike paths where there are already sidewalks?
oldcat (anonymous) says…
oneeye_wilbur, are you saying Eudora only has 3 blocks of paved streets? Only time I've been there, I would agree.
srj (anonymous) says…
"concerned about the mounting national debt"
We are all in big trouble with the debt if all this spending does not work in a year.
wutang700 (anonymous) says…
$1.9 million it has received in stimulus money for new buses....... HOW about you fix 9th street pretty much from Mass to Iowa st. Has to be up there in the top 5 of crappy roads in lawrence
Earmark_Me (anonymous) says…
From Dennis Moore's list of earmark requests for 2010,
......in Lawrence & DG County:
23rd & Ousdahl drainage - $1,100,000
Lawrence Community Shelter - $600,000
31st St. Construct; Haskell to OConnell - $3,000,000
Bus Replacements: $1,600,000
Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance: $250,000
Visitation/Exchange Center (TFI Family Services): $500,000
.......for KU:
Supercomputing: $4,900,000
......for KSU
Preharvest Food Safety: $142,000
Water Conservation: $500,000
Karnal Bunt (wheat fungus): $541,185
NABC: $1,000,000
Wheat Genetics Research: $1,300,000
Grain Sorghum Research: $1,500,000
(isn't KSU in a different district?)
see:
http://www.moore.house.gov/Resources/...
Earmark_Me (anonymous) says…
Hope you find that list stimulating.
oldnavycdr (anonymous) says…
It is a very interesting list Earmark_Me. Included on the Congressman's list is the address of where to send the money. Did the Chancellor's office move to Anderson Hall in Manhattan? Seems like THE University of Kansas is getting upstaged by those pesky Wildcats from the west. Some get it, and some pretend to teach.