The Sanatoga Post

by Amanda Michel of ProPublica
and the ProPublica Reporting Network
Initially published Tuesday (Aug. 18, 2009) at 9:18 am EDT

Vice President Joe Biden touted this as the summer of stimulus, a time when the Obama administration would ramp up road construction and put “shovels in the ground.”

The Sanatoga Post is a member of the ProPublica Reporting Network, but did not contribute to this story.

That promise appears likely to play out – albeit a bit later than expected, according to our Stimulus Spot Check, a status report on road and bridge projects conducted by volunteers in the ProPublica Reporting Network (how to participate).

ProPublica pulled a random sample of 520 of the roughly 6,000 approved projects to examine stimulus progress around the country. That sample is large enough to estimate national patterns with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent. ProPublica asked members of its reporting network to find out if states had advertised the projects, awarded contracts or actually started construction work.

While about 30 percent of the projects in the sample had broken ground by mid-summer, at least 66 percent had a contract and 76 percent had been put out to bid – suggesting an impending gusher of stimulus work in late summer and early fall.

• Federal Stimulus In Montco Worth $108 Per Person … So Far
• See ProPublica’s recipient-by-recipient list of stimulus funding spent in Montgomery County (PA).
• Compare it to similar lists of spending in adjacent Chester and Berks counties.
• Get a sense of overall stimulus spending in Pennsylvania.

In addition to the survey, ProPublica reviewed federal transportation data to determine how many stimulus projects reached a critical juncture – receipt of a “notice to proceed,” the last bureaucratic step before construction can start.

The data show some surprising trends: a wide range of progress among states, a tendency for cold weather states to have more projects under way, and a relatively bigger lag getting started in states where unemployment is highest.

New Mexico has achieved the final green light for construction on 100 percent of its approved projects, for example, while fewer than 4 percent of Florida’s projects had advanced to the same stage, the notice-to-proceed data show.

Nationwide, the data show that 44 percent of federally approved road and bridge projects had been awarded to contractors and authorized for construction.

How fast states are moving on stimulus road construction became a political flashpoint after the Democratic chairman of the House transportation committee commended some governors and shamed others for getting off to a slow start.

The Democrats’ report, based on older data than that reviewed by ProPublica, singled out states with Republican governors – including Florida’s Charlie Crist – for criticism. But states led by Democrats are also trailing other states’ progress, ProPublica’s data show, including Michigan, New York and Kansas.

Why some states fell behind

The Spot Check sought to get beyond the politicking for a closer grasp of factors that explain why progress varies among states. The evidence suggests multiple variables are at play, including whether a state began lining up projects while the stimulus bill was being drafted in January and February. Some states had more internal hurdles to climb to get projects approved or required legislative action. Cold states with a short construction window have to move faster.

Before construction can begin, states must submit projects to the U.S. Department of Transportation for review. Many states, including Florida and Michigan, took time to survey regional planning groups and the public to identify projects.

After getting a sign-off from the DOT, there’s a lag time as states advertise the projects for bid, award contracts and give contractors the official green light by issuing a notice to proceed.

More than 70 members of the ProPublica Reporting Network agreed to investigate projects in their states. Chelsey Perkins, a recent college graduate who aspires to be a journalist, volunteered to spot-check all Minnesota projects in our sample.

Perkins called the state DOT and contractors. She found that six of the twelve projects had not yet started. Of those that had, just two of the companies had hired new workers – one hired six people, the other 25 – in addition to saving jobs within their companies. Four companies told Perkins they had not hired new employees but that the stimulus allowed them to retain members of their workforce.

In Colorado, volunteer Erica Grossman checked up on a $31 million repaving and bike trail project and determined that work started July 11. The contractor, Castle Rock Construction, told state officials it has so far hired six new employees, saved 135 positions and had 250 employees working on the project, Grossman said.

But in most cases, approved projects were still in the pre-construction phase, the Spot Check reporters found. “Construction is supposed to begin the first week of August, but I have yet to see any progress beginning,’’ wrote Coulter Jones, who looked into a $3 million paving project in Luzerne County, Pa.

Reports from the field came in over a two-week period in late July, so it’s possible some have advanced in the meantime. Coulter checked back last week, for instance, and found that work had begun on the Pennsylvania project.

In some cases, construction delays appeared to be the result of contractors’ schedules rather than red tape.

Two paving projects in Missouri received notices to proceed in April, for instance, but no construction had begun four months later. Carrie Lewis, a spokeswoman for Missouri DOT, said companies are under no obligation to start as soon as possible. The only requirement is that the work be done by end of the year.

A fast start in New England

The federal Transportation Department data, listing the status through Aug. 7 of approved road and bridge projects in all 50 states, show a huge disparity in progress nationwide.

New Mexico is the furthest ahead when it comes to green-lighting projects, having issued a notice to proceed for all its approved projects. A New England contingent of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island followed in succession.

Some states receiving the most stimulus money for transportation have been among the slowest to get off the blocks. That’s true for Florida, which had received $1.1 billion for 313 projects. The state has authorized construction on 3.6 percent of them. California, getting $1.8 billion so far for 489 projects, has given the go-ahead to 8 percent.

Checking states’ progress at any one point, of course, doesn’t tell the full story. States can move up or down the rankings significantly from one week to the next, as batches of projects move from the contracting phase to construction. In addition, the data Propublica used is reported to the Transportation Department by states and may not be up-do-date with the latest state information.

For its pre-recess progress report, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee relied on DOT data from June to anoint Wyoming the “best” at spending stimulus money. The committee weighted its rankings based on the number of projects advertised, contracts awarded and projects started.

Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., scolded the governors of Hawaii, South Carolina and Florida for falling behind other states. But the committee declined to release the full set of rankings, so it wasn’t clear how other states stacked up in the panel’s list.

Some say the progress reports miss the big picture. Kevin Thibault, Florida DOT’s assistant secretary of engineering and operations, said politicians and the public would do better to consider whether projects that are moving forward have a long-term economic impact.

“If you look at Florida’s projects, most of them are adding capacity,” said Thibault. “I am widening roads. I am adding interchanges. That’s versus a resurfacing project or a guardrail project. Two or three years out, not only will the Florida region see the job creation benefit, but they’ll see the increased movement of goods and people,” he said.

If achieving those goals means it takes a little longer to get started, Thibault said, that’s an acceptable trade-off.

An added incentive: Climate

Two other patterns show up in a statistical analysis of the federal data.

Overall, states with colder winters were more likely to have a greater share of projects completed or started, an apparent reflection of the shorter construction season.

“Unlike Texas, we can’t work through the winter,” said John Zicconi, a Vermont Transportation Agency spokesman. Only Alaska, the northernmost cold state, was behind the curve.

States with higher unemployment are also spending and completing projects more slowly. Not all states fit the pattern, but ProPublica’s analysis did find a significant relationship between these variables and forward progress.

Michigan, with the highest unemployment rate in the country – 15.2 percent – had given a green light to only 62 of 325 projects, the data show. Political overhead helps explain why the state is off to a slow start, officials there said.

“We had to get approval from the Legislature,” said Michigan’s DOT spokesperson Bill Shreck. “We have about 14 metropolitan planning organizations, and we sent all of our stuff through them. It helps with buy-in in the long run.”

—

Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica’s director of computer-assisted reporting, contributed to this report – as did these members of the ProPublica Reporting Network: Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik, Michael Andersen, Lisa Antrim, Lois Beckett, Rhiannon Bowman, Mary Ellen Broderick, Arnold Broomfield, Andy Bunch, Walter Card, Stacey Carmany, Andrea Chalupa, Ben Cohen, Lara Cooper, Cynthia Craft, Ian Crouch, John Crouch, Dan Crowley, Libby Desmond, Avery Diamond, Randall Downey, Haley Edwards, M.T. Elliott, Anthony Fiano, Audrey Fisher, David Fogle, Katie Foutz, Hall Institute of Public Policy (New Jersey), Sam Hashemi, Marie Gachelin, Carolyne Garcia, Erica Grossman, Robert Haider, Tanya Harned, Lillian Jackson (Georgia DOT), Sierra Jenkins, Coulter Jones, Sherrie Jossen, Joe Jordan, Susan Juetten, Steve Katz, Andrew Klein, Tom Knauer, Larry Larsen, Victor Laughlin, Dana Logan, Kirstin Michel, Carol Nicholas, Charles O’Donnell, Shelley Ottenbrite, Marge Pala, Chelsey Perkins, Nick Petitte, Mike Pouraryan, Ernesto Priego, Bruce Reeves, EJ Rotert, Jessica Roy, Andrew Skolnick, Zach Seward, Jeff Smith, Will Sommer, Jonathan Sommers, Ben Stearns, Michael Tracey, WNYC (Rachel Senatore), Ernie Wright, Jane Wylen, and David Zapencki

This story is re-published under a Creative Commons license

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Federal stimulus spending on programs in Montgomery County (PA), through July 20, is worth $108 for every county resident, according to a ProPublica report.

An electronic sign on eastbound U.S. Route 422 warns of lane closures due to reconstruction.

WASHINGTON DC – The amount of federal economic stimulus money being spent in Montgomery County (PA) – a total of more than $84 million through July 20 (2009) – equals $108 for every man, woman and child who are county residents, an examination by the ProPublica news organization shows.

The Pottsgrove and Pottstown school districts have benefited directly from that spending, according to ProPublica. So have students of Ursinus College in Collegeville, 8 miles east of Sanatoga. And motorists who travel U.S. Route 422 between Royersford and Collegeville benefit from the third largest allocation of stimulus funding, more than $12 million, being spent within the county borders.

ProPublica’s analysis – a far-reaching look at spending so far under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in every county and every state in the nation – concludes there is “no relationship between where the money is going and unemployment and poverty,” despite repeated pledges by the Obama administration “that the money would reach middle America, seeping into the communities hardest hit by the recession.”

The independent news group‘s package of stories and county-by-county stimulus funding reports, titled “Stimulus Funding Fails to Follow Unemployment, Poverty,” were published online Wednesday (Aug. 5, 2009). The Sanatoga Post is a member of the ProPublica Reporting Network.

• Read the entire ProPublica analysis.
• See ProPublica’s recipient-by-recipient list of stimulus funding spent in Montgomery County.
• Compare it to similar lists of spending in adjacent Chester and Berks counties.
• Get a sense of overall stimulus spending in Pennsylvania.

If highest spending is meant to have greatest impact, then the biggest local federal stimulus winners undoubtedly are commuters on Route 422, the four-lane highway that is the daily vehicular lifeline to and from work for thousands of area residents. The Recovery Act is pumping $13,439,569 into reconstructing the four-mile stretch of 422 from Royersford to Collegeville.

It should be noted that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has described that project as being valued at $12.2 million. Reasons for the discrepancy in figures were not immediately apparent in ProPublica’s reporting.

Within Montgomery County, even bigger winners were Plymouth Township and West Conshohocken Borough, where $33.6 million is being spent on repairs to Interstate 476 (The Blue Route); and Upper Merion Township, which gets a new off-ramp for State Route 76 valued at $14.2 million, according to ProPublica.

Pottsgrove School District offices.

Also directly benefiting locally from stimulus funds were the Pottsgrove and Pottstown school districts. ProPublica reported Pottsgrove was scheduled to receive $230,291 in Recovery Act funds under “Title I grants to local educational agencies;” Pottstown was slated for $430,010. Worth noting: the nearby Spring-Ford school district, so far, has received no stimulus funding, ProPublica said.

Ursinus College’s stimulus windfall came in the form of additional Pell Grant money to pay for student scholarships. ProPublica said Ursinus got a total of $393,109 so far in three such allocations.

Six similar Pell Grant allocations, totaling almost $2.4 million, are identified by ProPublica as being given to “Montgomery County.” Although not specified by name, it is assumed the recipient in fact is Montgomery County Community College, with campuses in Pottstown and Blue Bell. If so, students attending there also would benefit from added scholarship money.

While Montgomery County transportation and education have received the most stimulus money to date, funds also have been spent countywide on programs in housing, agriculture, small business, defense, and the arts.

Graphics by ProPublica.org

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WASHINGTON DC – Although reporting Wednesday (Aug. 5, 2009) by the ProPublica news organization claims Recovery Act spending nationwide does not correlate with the intent to jump-start local economies out of the recession, stimulus funding in Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties seems to track along the lines of their relative needs.

A package of reports by the independent newsroom at spending so far under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 criticizes the stimulus as being “literally all over the map.” In the grants already awarded, ProPublica said, “some battered counties are hauling in large amounts, while others that are just as hard hit have received little.”

However, a Post comparison of ProPublica data on stimulus awards in Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties – collectively labeled the TriCounty area when referring to western Montgomery, eastern Berks and northern Chester municipalities – seems to show the county of greatest need got the most money per person, and the county of smallest need got the least.

The amount being spent per person in Berks County is $137.

In the TriCounty, Berks County, to the west, has the highest poverty rate (11.2 percent), highest unemployment rate (9.3 percent), lowest median household income ($52,241), and the highest stimulus funding per capita: $137.

That compares favorably with second-place stimulus finisher Montgomery County (5.3 percent poverty, 7.1 percent unemployment, $73,701 median income, $108 per capita).

By comparison, the amount being spent in Chester County totals just $54 per resident.

Chester County, to the south, has the lowest poverty rate (6.2 percent), lowest unemployment (6.6 percent), and highest median household income ($80,818). It received the smallest amount per capita: $54.

One qualifier in the ProPublica reporting package are the words “so far.” Its coverage shows that of the $792 billion set aside under the act for the national economic boost, less than 10 percent ($70 billion) had actually been spent as of July 20 (2009). Spending on another 15 percent ($122 billion) was in progress. More than 49 percent ($389 billion) had yet to be spent. And $212 billion, or 26 percent, was allocated to tax cuts yet to be delivered.

Graphics by ProPublica.org

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New signs bookend the Route 422 repairs.

ROYERSFORD PA – Signs proclaiming that federal stimulus money is at work in the current repair of U.S. Route 422, and in infrastructure projects elsewhere across the state and nation, are being erected as quickly as possible “to make it easier for Americans” to know where billions of dollars in economic recovery funds are being spent, according to the federal Highway Administration.

Two such signs – 7-feet wide by 5-feet high, with white lettering on a dark green background – were erected about two weeks ago on the south side of the eastbound lane of 422 near the Royersford-Trappe exit ramp, and on the north side of the westbound lane near the Collegeville-Phoenixville ramp at Route 29.

“PROJECT FUNDED BY THE American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” (ARRA) they announce.

The signs serve as bookends on the 4-1/2-mile stretch of 422 where, on May 21 (2009), the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said it was spending $12.2 million of stimulus money. Estimates put the signs’ cost, depending on size (there also is a 10-foot by 8-foot version), at about $1,000 or more apiece.

A Posts' Report For ProPublica

Despite the glad tidings they offer, not everyone is happy about the signs. Read a companion story here about criticisms they’ve attracted.

Under the project, PennDOT crews and contractors will remove areas of the highway’s broken concrete pavement, pour new concrete patches, and resurface the concrete pavement with asphalt. They also will repair 12 bridges; repair ramps at the Route 29 and Royersford interchanges; install safety rumble strips on roadway shoulders; clean existing pipe culverts; and install new guide rail, reflective pavement markers, and Intelligent Transportation System conduit.

A document that the Highway Administration labels as “sign guidance,” last updated April 21, notes that President Obama in March “made the commitment” to ensure all projects paid for in whole or part by Recovery Act funds bore an emblem that could be readily identified by the public. The Highway Administration wrote that it “strongly encourages agencies to use the economic recovery signs.”

The Recovery Act emblem itself is 30 inches wide by 30 inches high, representing 6-1/4 square feet, according to sign details provided by the administration. The recommended signs on which the emblems are mounted, on the other hand, are 35 square feet … 5.6 times larger than the logos themselves.

Related:

• Recovery Act Signs Cause A Stir
• Posts Join ProPublica Reporting Effort

WASHINGTON DC – Although a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) spokesman says his agency has taken a “middle of the road” approach to posting signs that show on which highways federal stimulus money is being spent, other states’ willingness to spend liberally on such roadside markers is generating public controversy.

Contractors pour concrete on eastbound U.S. 422 near Royersford as part of repairs there paid for by federal economic stimulus funds.

PennDOT so far has spent about $60,000 of the U.S. government’s recovery cash, or about $2,000 per highway, to post signs on 30 road repair and construction projects across the Commonwealth that are being paid for by money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, The (Allentown PA) Morning Call newspaper reported Friday (July 17, 2009).

Nationwide, however, millions of dollars are being spent to produce those same signs.

PennDOT’s Steve Chizmar told Morning Call reporter Josh Drobnyk the state was attempting to be selective in where Recovery Act signage was placed, even though the federal Highway Administration strongly urged that every project receiving an economic jump start be signed. PennDOT signs are in locations that were of highest visibility, Chizmar said.

A Posts' Report For ProPublica

Another PennDOT source, Eric Waters, agreed. He told The (Pittsburgh PA) Tribune-Review that 242 state highway projects so far have been named to receive more than $1 billion in stimulus funding. “Not all … will have signs,” Waters said.

As a move intended to reap positive publicity, the signs aren’t getting the reception supporters might have hoped.

In New York, a state senator on Wednesday (July 15, 2009) called the idea “a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.” In New Hampshire, one of its two U.S. senators openly wondered what jobs, if any, the signage created. A Massachusetts newspaper complained, tongue in cheek, that the signs amounted to false advertising.

“I thought the idea behind the stimulus money was to get people back to work, not promote government. These signs are simply a shameless plug that wastes the public’s money,” New York legislator James L. Seward told his hometown newspaper, The (Little Falls NY) Evening Times.

Recovery Act logo.

“To spend taxpayer dollars on signs touting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act at each and every project does nothing for households who are struggling to get by or for those who’ve lost their jobs during the economic downturn,” added U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. He’s already filed legislation that would prohibit the signs.

In Massachusetts, The (New Andover MA) Eagle-Tribune newspaper opined the signs could be more truthful. “We like the suggestion,” it said, “of one of our Web commenters that the signs should read: ‘This project paid for by your unborn grandchildren’.”

At least two states, Virginia and Texas, have decided against erecting any signs at all.

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The Posts' Reporting For ProPublica

SANATOGA PA – Some news reporting by Sanatoga-based Career Education Media Ventures (CEMV), focusing on the use of federal economic stimulus funding in Pennsylvania infrastructure projects, is now being shared with a national investigative journalism organization called ProPublica.

CEMV publishes The Sanatoga Post, The Limerick Post and The Pottstown Post.

Joe Zlomek, managing editor of The Posts, last month became the latest among dozens of professional reporters and editors assisting ProPublica. The organization describes itself as “an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest” and is led by Paul Steiger, a former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. ProPublica is funded by a multi-year grant from The Sandler Foundation.

Joe Zlomek.

The first ProPublica assignment being tackled by The Posts is coverage of the stimulus-funded project known as “PENNSYLVANIA Transportation Z064100: the pavement preservation, bridge deck repair, and bridge parapet repair on U.S. Route 422 from State Route 29 to Township Line in Limerick and Upper Providence (PA) Townships.”

This story announcing The Posts’ reporting involvement, and two others about the 422 project – headlined “New Signs On 422 Mark Stimulus Funding” and “Recovery Act Signs Cause A Stir,” respectively – are being published today (July 20, 2009). An earlier story that announced the launch of the road work, headlined “422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday,” was published May 22 (2009), before CEMV’s commitment to ProPublica.

Other stories generated by The Posts will follow. CEMV also has been granted permission under a Creative Commons license to distribute ProPublica articles in The Posts’ editions.

ProPublica opened for business in June 2008. Headquartered in Manhattan, it employs 32 working journalists dedicated to what the group calls “investigative reporting on stories with significant potential for major impact.”

Its articles are available from its website, ProPublica.org, and also are shared with traditional media outlets. To date it has produced team coverage with newspapers The Washington Post, The Pittsburgh PA Post-Gazette, The Albany NY Times-Union, and The Denver CO Post, and others, as well as WNYC Radio and Politico, the online political magazine.

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ROYERSFORD PA – A 4-1/2-mile stretch of U.S. Route 422, roughly between its Royersford and Collegeville (Route 29) interchanges, will undergo $12.2 million of reconstruction and improvement work beginning next week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced Thursday (May 21, 2009).

Traffic moves west Thursday (May 21, 2009) along U.S. Route 422 at its Royersford-Trappe exit, which PennDOT will re-pave.

“We are ready to upgrade this rough stretch of pavement and provide motorists with a smooth, structurally-sound roadway for many years to come,” PennDOT District Executive Lester C. Toaso said. The work, which starts Tuesday (May 26, 2009) is being financed by federal econnomic stimulus money. The project is scheduled to end in July 2010.

Work crews will remove areas of broken concrete pavement and pour new concrete patches on eastbound Route 422. They also will resurface the concrete pavement with asphalt; repair 12 bridges; repair ramps at the Route 29 and Royersford interchanges; install safety rumble strips on roadway shoulders; clean existing pipe culverts; and install new guide rail, reflective pavement markers, and Intelligent Transportation System conduit.

A Posts' Report For ProPublica

For 422 drivers, the work will cause some added delays.

They’ll face lane closures weekdays, weeknights and some weekends during the next 12 months, Toaso said. PennDOT’s contractor, Road-Con Inc. of West Chester PA, instends to stage the work so all lanes will be open on eastbound Route 422 during the peak morning commuting hours, and all westbound lanes will be open during the peak late-afternoon travel hours.

In addition, weekend ramp closures will occur at the Route 29 and Royersford interchanges for repairs and resurfacing.

Starting Tuesday and lasting about three months, eastbound Route 422 will be reduced from two lanes to one on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning for the removal and replacement of deteriorated concrete pavement. The contractor plans to start at the Royersford Interchange and proceed east.

When the concrete replacement work shifts to Route 422’s westbound lanes in August or September, westbound motorists will encounter a signal-lane pattern weekdays from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m. the next afternoon.

Route 422 carries 62,000 vehicles a day between its Collegeville and Royersford exits. This portion of highway to be repaired was built in the early 1970s, PennDOT said.

Related:

• 422 Proposal, Like Traffic, Creeps Ahead
• Got A Route 422 Idea? Time To Air It
• Train Service On The Front Burner Once More

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