South Florida Hopes for $3 Billion in Stimulus Funding

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The entire country has been struggling financially, and South Florida is certainly no exception. The current situation prompted President Obama to announce his plans for a $50 billion stimulus package earlier this week in an effort to boost infrastructure around the country. Out of that stimulus, South Florida alone is claiming that it needs about $3 billion.

According to the Miami Herald, South Florida's wish list is colossal: about $4 million worth of fire sprinkler systems and alarm upgrades at Miami International Airport, millions of dollars in new ramps to the Palmetto Expressway, and $100 million for a new interchange on Oakland Park Boulevard west of the Turnpike in Broward. And that is just a few of the infrastructure changes South Florida hopes to make. In total, the infrastructure officers that oversee South Florida's roads, ports, and rail systems, have five year plans in place with hundreds of unfunded projects adding up to $3 billion.

Are any of these projects closer to reality with the unveiling of Obama's new plan? Miami-Dade's Metropolitan Planning Organization is telling residents that it is too early to know. However, they do point out that the agency dispersed about $126 million in federal stimulus money last year.

This leaves residents with another question, where did the stimulus money go? Most of the stimulus money from last year was spent on an interchange between the Dolphin and Palmetto expressways, while the remainder was spent on electronic tolling on the final 18 mile stretch heading to the Florida Keys.

In Broward, where about $200 million was received in federal funding, the majority was spent on a bridge connecting Broward County to Palm Beach County and the installation of express lanes.

South Florida shouldn't get their hopes up, there isn't even a bill drawn up for President Obama's proposal. If it does finally get written up it still needs congressional approval, something that will be hard to get with the current state of the economy. If (and that is a big "if") a bill does get approval it then needs to be split up state by state. After all, the entire country is asking for money, not just South Florida.

With all the hurdles the President's plan will have to overcome, it is very like that South Florida will receive even less money than it saw last year; that is, if a bill passes at all.

For a complete list of South Florida's wish list visit the Miami Herald website.

Sources:
The Miami Herald