By Sarah Rohrs/Times-Herald, Vallejo
Posted: 05/01/2009
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger jokes with Fairfield mayor Harry Price about the governor's diet after the mayor presented the governor with a bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans Thursday. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald, Vallejo)
Amid a throng of grateful local politicians and men in hard hats, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday visited the site of the state's first transportation infrastructure project funded with federal stimulus money.
Interstate 80 will be repaved and restored between Highway 12 and Air Base Parkway in Fairfield with $13.5 million from President Obama's American Recovery Reinvestment Act.
The I-80 project in Fairfield is expected to generate at least 235 jobs, Schwarzenegger said. Work will begin in mid-May, and consist of resurfacing and rehabilitating the freeway, and building new HOV lanes.
Schwarzenegger announced the first federally funded construction project as he stood in a parking lot near Air Base Parkway as I-80 traffic zipped by some 50 yards behind him.
"This is a very important project to bring the economy back and to generate jobs," said Schwarzenegger, adding he is intent on using as much federal money as he can get to fix the state's infrastructure and create jobs.
"The best is yet to come," he vowed, saying he would work to see that stimulus funds are spread out among projects statewide.
On infrastructure projects paid for with federal stimulus money, Schwarzenegger said the state would be committed to move quickly, and be transparent and accountable on government spending. Estimates show California will receive nearly $2.6 billion of federal stimulus money for highways and streets, and $1 billion for transit project, according to the state.
Schwarzenegger also praised state officials for trimming I-80 project costs and eliminating government waste, noting the $13.5 million price tag is about 40 percent less than the original estimated cost. Work will be done by Top Grade Construction of Livermore which won the construction contract April 21.
The work will improve a 50-year-old freeway section used by nearly 200,000 motorists each day, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Many local politicians were on hand including all the mayors of local cities and several county supervisors.
Fairfield Mayor Harry Price gave Schwarzenegger a bag of candy from Fairfield's Jelly Belly factory to which the governor joked, "I'm on a diet."
James Earp, from California Alliance for Jobs and California Transportation Commission, praised Schwarzenegger for recognizing the need for infrastructure improvements and for keeping the issue on the front burner.
"Without infrastructure we're all going to go down to the bottom in terms of the economy," said Danny Curtain, director of the California Conference of Carpenters.
Meanwhile, Ben Espinoza of the Cement Masons Local 400 said jobs generated by the I-80 work are sorely needed. Unemployment among the construction trades is about 20 percent he said.