In early January, officials with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) contacted the City of Apalachicola requesting that the city create and submit a list of so-called “shovel ready” transportation projects for funding consideration through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The city created and submitted such a list requesting $1 million dollars in stimulus funds to fund a citywide road-paving project, which included the paving of existing dirt roads and resurfacing others. The city also requested improvements at the intersection of U.S. Highway 98 and Market Street, along with the adjoining multi-step curbing along U.S. Highway 98.
On March 25, the city received word back from the FDOT stating that the city’s submission did not meet existing Federal highway guidelines nor did our projects meet FDOT’s priority list.
Apparently, when the U.S. Congress passed the measure aimed at jump-starting the economy they did so without including any criteria or rules governing the expenditure of funds.
As a result, the FDOT had to rely upon existing guidelines that inadvertently excludes small rural communities from obtaining stimulus dollars for local transportation projects.
The city created and submitted such a list requesting $1 million dollars in stimulus funds to fund a citywide road-paving project, which included the paving of existing dirt roads and resurfacing others. The city also requested improvements at the intersection of U.S. Highway 98 and Market Street, along with the adjoining multi-step curbing along U.S. Highway 98.
On March 25, the city received word back from the FDOT stating that the city’s submission did not meet existing Federal highway guidelines nor did our projects meet FDOT’s priority list.
Apparently, when the U.S. Congress passed the measure aimed at jump-starting the economy they did so without including any criteria or rules governing the expenditure of funds.
As a result, the FDOT had to rely upon existing guidelines that inadvertently excludes small rural communities from obtaining stimulus dollars for local transportation projects.
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