Construction Projects Waiting for Stimulus Funds

Washington, DC, Aug. 5, 2009--Infrastructure projects that could benefit from stimulus spending are moving slowly and many won't get started this summer.

For example, the General Services Administration has decided how to spend $1 billion on federal building upgrades, but only about 1% of that money has been spent.

The GSA will approve another $1 billion by year's end, but Anthony Costa, acting commissioner of the GSA's public buildings services, said it will take until 2011 before the agency picks projects for all of the $5.5 billion it was allocated for infrastructure work.

The gradual start means many projects won't get under way before the beginning of the fall, when many construction projects in the northern half of the country typically halt before the winter rain and snow.

The White House Recovery Office said Tuesday that government agencies have decided how to spend about $31 billion of the $73 billion going directly to construction projects, but it couldn't offer a figure on how much has actually been spent.