The New York Times took a look at more than 5,000 transportation projects funded by the big federal bailout. Not surprisingly, the analysis found that money is not going to cities. The need for projects to receive approval by June 30 clearly had some impact, as work on urban loops takes time, but even within the projects submitted, urban areas lost out, as urban mayors said back in May. One local example:
Pat McCrory, the mayor of Charlotte, N.C., said his city ?did pretty terrible? when it came to getting money. Of the $423 million in projects approved so far in North Carolina, only $7.8 million is going to Mecklenburg County, the state?s most populous county and the home of Charlotte.
StimulusWatch.org lists more than $800 million in projects submitted by Charlotte as being shovel-ready. You can track projects in the pipeline at NCStimulusWatch or at Recovery.gov.
As with every other major decision in life, the rule on stimulus should be “Go ask Roy (Cordato).”
