Washington County asks for slice of Economic Stimulus pie

Oregon expects to get about $2 billion out of the $875 billion federal stimulus package approved by the US House of Representatives and now being considered by the US Senate. With our unemployment at nine percent and a projected state budget shortfall of $750 million in the next five months alone, Oregon could really use any influx of money.

Washington County stands to receive about $100 million of those funds. To be ready to move quickly once the money is available, Washington County has created a list of “shovel-ready” projects on which our portion of the money could be spent in a timely fashion. County administrators have pulled together a list of projects that would create or sustain employment, are already at least partially designed, and which generally don’t require land or right-of-way acquisition.

These projects cover transportation needs such as building and repairing highways and bridges, upgrading and installing pedestrian facilities, and modernizing traffic control systems; and Clean Water Services projects to expand, upgrade and build new water and sewer plants and other water treatment facilities.

Items that could impact our area include an improved asphalt pedestrian path on NW 143rd from the Terra Linda School entrance to West Union, traffic signal retiming (to reflect current traffic patterns—improving traffic flow, and decreasing fuel consumption and pollution), and repairs/overlays to various streets. CWS projects likely to benefit us include upgrades to both sanitary and stormwater sewer systems.

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