Chesapeake has some of Hampton Roads' most dire and expensive bridge needs, including a largely unfunded $373 million project to widen Dominion Boulevard and replace the Steel Bridge.
Yet the city received only $1.4 million in federal stimulus money for bridges, which will go toward fixing cracks in the decks of more than a half-dozen other bridges.
The situation resembles the results of an analysis by The Associated Press. The combination of two factors - the relatively small amount of federal stimulus money available, plus the requirement that funded projects must be ready for work to commence right away - has meant that resources are being put into easier road projects and bridges that are in better shape.
Of the 2,476 bridges in the United States set to get stimulus money, nearly half have passed inspections with high marks, the AP analysis found. More than 1,000 bridges will benefit from stimulus funding despite being in such good shape that they normally wouldn't qualify for federal bridge-repair funding.
No other South Hampton Roads locality is more in need of bridge funding than Chesapeake, where nearly a fifth of the city's 90 bridges received poor or very poor state ratings in the past few years.
A handful of those bridges will see some stimulus money, but not nearly enough to replace or do major work on them.
While President Barack Obama hoped the stimulus infusion could rebuild the nation's "crumbling bridges," cities such as Chesapeake were given the task of finding "shovel-ready" projects that could get moving faster than the bigger bridge projects.
So instead of putting a funding dent in the Dominion Boulevard project - Chesapeake's top transportation priority- the city got $1.4 million for bridges. The money is going toward repairs on nine spans, most of which received relatively high sufficiency rankings from the state transportation department.
The Dominion project, said Chesapeake Public Works Director Eric Martin, "didn't meet the criteria of being shovel-ready, because our design is not far enough advanced."
Martin contends that Chesapeake was dealing with its worst bridges well before the stimulus came along. The Gilmerton Bridge is already being replaced by the Virginia Department of Transportation. A private group wants to replace t he Jordan Bridge. And over the next two years, the city is planning to spend about $9 million to replace seven bridges that have gotten poor or very poor ratings from VDOT, according to budget records.
Martin and other officials also point out that the Army Corps of Engineers received nearly $2 million in stimulus money it will put toward federally operated Chesapeake bridges that need repair. And the city's stimulus money will improve bridges that are in bad condition.
"These are kind of like big maintenance items," Martin said. "It's not very high-tech. But all of that maintenance was necessary, and would have had to have been provided locally or by the state."
Norfolk officials say they have benefited from the stimulus money, as well. They say $1.65 million will go toward rehabilitating the Norview Avenue Bridge, an important project that was mostly designed before the stimulus announcement, officials said. An additional $4.15 million awarded to Norfolk will go toward repaving collector and arterial roads.
No bridge projects in Suffolk were eligible for stimulus funding, based on the published criteria, officials said.
No Virginia Beach bridges have gotten stimulus money, although regional transportation leaders want to seek money to replace the Lesner Bridge.
Nationwide, nearly 1,300 deficient or obsolete bridges are expected to share $2.2 billion in stimulus money for repairs, according to the AP analysis. That is still less than 1 percent of the more than 150,000 bridges that engineers have labeled deficient or obsolete.
The AP analysis found that Virginia and South Carolina were among the states that were using stimulus money to target bridges in poor condition.
In Virginia, state bridge engineer Kendal Walus recalled bosses telling him last fall, as talk of a stimulus was just beginning, that the state would probably make bridges a priority.
This report contains information from The Associated Press.
Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com
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Need fixing
I am a little worried about the Gilmerton Bridge. How old is it anyways? They keep what seems to be "patching" it. It looks a bit ancient.
Lesner Bridge
I drive on the lesner bridge every day. I also walk under that bridge at least once a week. there is no rust, no cracked concrete, no exposed rebar, no peeling paint and no irregular road surface. This is just another hustle by city of VB to grab fed funds and delay the repairs needed to upgrade Shore Drive. The bridge needs a safer walkway and some new lighting. Folks in Chesapeake should raise holy moly over the replacement of the Lesner bridge if it happens. Maybe the repaorter of this story would look in to this boondoggle.
Quit Blaming
When you direct your satire at those in office in DC, they are just a reflection of we, the taxpayer-voters.
WE the people are to blame; not the blood sucking politicians. They are only fulfilling their role in the process, which is now corrupted. We put them there didn't we?
It's their agenda (which is the same in both parties). They take money from corporate master lobbyists who pay them off for their votes or subsidies.
This should be about us. We are the ones who keep electing them (both parties) back in office. Nothing will ever change until people wake up to what is going on. You can see that will not happen.
Are you ready to vote out ALL of them? Local, state, and national? I didn't think so. THAT'S the problem.
Why is anyone surprised?..
The bulk of the bailout and alleged 'stimulus' monies have been targeted at dubious endeavors, like keeping GM from bankruptcy (that worked out well, right?). The opportunity was lost to REALLY do some good via a massive govt expenditure (that would still have been much less expensive than the present monstrocities) that would have created and led to millions of jobs, and that opportunity was about addressing the infrastructure needs of this nation. Shoring up existing bridges, roads, and waterways, while constructing new ones, would have had the ripple effect (some might call it trickle down) on the rest of the economy. These projects could have been enacted en masse, they would have been truly 'shovel ready'. Instead, the bulk of the stimulus is for spending in time for the next Congressional election, and afterwards. So it was designed from the get-go as a political calculation, not something to put Americans (real ones, not the illegals) to work, and REALLY jump start the economy where it's most needed.
In other words, it's business as usual in Washington DC. How's that 'change we can believe in' working out, hmmm?
Core Issues
Bridges need to be routinely maintained and serviced throughout their lifetime. We as a city have bridges that our fire trucks cannot cross. Chesapeake City Council for the past 5 years has put more focus on real estate development projects than bridges. Belle Harbor, The Biodiesel plant, The Ethanol plant, streets of Greenbrier Project, The 4 million dollar road for Wal-Mart. Look at the energy given towards these non-essential projects, while our bridges received the poorest ratings possible from VDOT inspectors. All of us have priorities in life, and our city governments priority, should have been to secure the safety of our bridges. Anyone who stays "in the loop" of politics in Chesapeake knows this is a fact. Until we get a city council elected that can truly commit to our core needs as a city, and stay away from these "fluff and stuff" projects, be careful on the roadways and bridges you travel with your family.
bridges
I thought the stimulus money was to create jobs and bolster the economy, not make up for a badly managed road / bridge maintence program.
It has bolstered
The marked improvement in this quarter relative to last is largely due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).... Despite the overall contraction, the fingerprints of the ARRA could be seen in some aspect of today's report. Federal government spending grew at an 11% rate in the quarter, adding roughly 0.8% to overall GDP. State and local government spending grew at a 2.4% annual rate, the fastest growth since the middle of 2007. It is clear that the large amount of state aid contained in the ARRA made this growth possible.
The consensus of macroeconomic forecasters is that ARRA contributed roughly 3% to annualized growth rates in the second quarter. This means that absent its effects, economic performance would have resembled that of the previous three quarters.
____
"The argument that the stimulus bill has 'failed' because times are still tough has always been dimwitted. There was never any chance that it was going to miraculously end the recession, only that it might make it a little shallower than it otherwise would have been. So far, it appears to have done exactly that."
That's a nice spin...
and no doubt govt talking point - provided, for a program that was dubious to begin with.
You were wrong
You thought wrong. San Francisco porn has a higher priority than "shovel ready" projects.
So far...
it has done neither.....he sold this waste on having "shovel ready" jobs, to me that would mean bridges, road.....infrastructure projects....I'm it's not lost on the citizens of Chesapeake that our Congressman is a Republican and this is just political payback for an unfavorable vote....that's the way the obama admin operatates...at least until the 2010 elections....
"shovel ready"means
To me" shovel ready "means the project has the design done ,the plans and the specifications done.and all approved with a P.E. seal and ready for bid. The truth be known the Lesner Bridge is a long way from that.
Stimulus
The real purpose of the stimulus was never to provide jobs. It's purpose was to reward political allies and regions that vote Democratic.
Taxes.
Perhaps if the city had saved some of the bike path and other non necessary project money and put it into what is a necessity then these run down roadways and bridges would not be in such bad shape now. Funny how great Bridge got a new Bridge and a bypass yet the rest of the city is forgotten about.
Same ol' song
Chesapeakes Bridges are falling down,
falling down, falling down, Chesapeaks Bridges are falling down,
Says My fair Tax Man.
Take a Wallet and pick it dry,
pick it dry, pick it dry Take a Wallet and pick it dry,
Says My fair Tax Man.
Build it up with Gold and Silver,
Gold and Silver, Gold and Silver, Build it up with Gold and Silver,
Says My fair Tax Man.
Gold and Silver I have none,
I have none, I have none, Gold and Silver I have none,
Says My fair Tax Man.
That's ok I'll get soon,
get it soon, get it soon, That's ok I'll get it soon,
Says My fair Tax Man.
Take a Wallet and pick it dry,
pick it dry, pick it dry, Take a Wallet and pick it dry,
Says My fair Tax Man.
Tmmy Kaine is head of the DNC and can't deliver?
Gee, our Governor is the head of the DNC and the Democratic Party controls the Congress, the Senate, the White House and countless new "Czars" that over see the trillions in DEBT that the Democrats are borrowing to spend - and good 'ole Virginny isn't getting stiffed? What's up with that? It looks like when it comes to Transportation, Gov. Kaine and his freinds in the Democratic Party simply can't get 'er done!
On the subject of czars
"During the Bush/Cheney years, the White House created new czars for almost every conceivable policy challenge. In the span of about six years, Rove's White House oversaw the creation of a "food safety czar," a "cybersecurity czar," a "regulatory czar," an "AIDS czar," a "manufacturing czar," an "intelligence czar," a "bird-flu czar," and a "Katrina czar." It was such a common strategy for Bush, Rove, and the gang, that it quickly became the butt of jokes. Newsweek satirist Andy Borowitz suggested in 2007 that the White House needed a "lying czar" to "oversee all distortions and misrepresentations."
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) never seemed especially concerned about czars before, but he, like much of the GOP establishment, seems awfully worked up about the issue now."
$1.4 Million = NO Help
So, the bar for what is considered help these days is north of $1.4 million dollars apparently. I realize to Randy Forbes and the reporter that $1.4 million is mere pocket change. The late Sen. Everett Dirksen once wryly commented, " A million here, a million there and pretty soon you are talking real money." lol
Sad...
It's so sad that Timmy is failing this state by not getting the area the necessary money it needs to fix the roads and bridges used by the various levels of government when they're here, to include the prez and his wife. Am I to believe that Timmy isn't in as well as he thinks with the Democrats despite being chair of the DNC, or is he hiding the rest from us for his nefarious Democrat projects that won't benefit the greater good?
The requirements are stupid, but then again, so are the people who made them.
Please God, let 2010 and 2012 be years of Redemption for us!!
Can't blame Congress for this...
How were they to know how Stimulous Bill was worded? God knows, they didn't have time to read it.