Neorail Funding from Obama

Saturday’s address from the President-Elect revealed the Obama administration’s goal to fund a vast range of new projects to rebuild and expand the nation’s infrastructure. According to the New York Times:

Mr. Obama and his team are working with Congressional leaders to devise a spending package that some lawmakers suggest could total $400 billion to $700 billion. Some analysts forecast even higher costs. Mr. Obama has said he would direct his team to come up with a plan to save or create 2.5 million jobs in the first two years of his administration.

A big part of that will be public works spending. “We will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s,” Mr. Obama said. He did not estimate how much he would devote to that purpose, but when he met with the nation’s governors last week, they said the states had $136 billion worth of road, bridge, water and other projects ready to go as soon as money became available. They estimated that each billion dollars spent would create up to 40,000 jobs.

Local and regional transit systems have $8 billion more in projects that could begin immediately, like buying hybrid buses and expanding light rail systems, creating thousands of jobs.

So, I mention this to ensure that Ohio’s leaders are listening and are ready to pitch light rail for Northeast Ohio as one of these ready-to-go projects. The Neorail proposal I’ve seen doesn’t incorporate Trumbull or Mahoning Counties, but I hope that will change.

Popularity: 3% [?]