![Across the U.S., 1,300 spans will be helped by the stimulus program. But many of the larger issues were not considered "shovel-ready," and are being left out. (David B. Hollingsworth | The Virginian-Pilot File Photo)](http://media.hamptonroads.com/cache/files/images/333551000.jpg "Across the U.S., 1,300 spans will be helped by the stimulus program. But many of the larger issues were not considered "shovel-ready," and are being left out. (David B. Hollingsworth | The Virginian-Pilot File Photo)")
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....