LANSING -The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Gov. Jennifer Granholm on March 7 announced a new plan to speed up local transportation projects across the state, putting more Hardhats to work sooner.

The "Local Jobs Today" plan will provide grants and loans to cities, counties, and local transit agencies to allow them to take advantage of available federal transportation funding and create more than 7,100 jobs in Michigan in 2006 and 2007. The construction industry will be the primary beneficiary.

"This Local Jobs Today plan can help cities, counties, and local transit agencies across Michigan put federal transportation dollars to work in their communities," said Gov. Jennifer Granholm.. "By giving counties and cities the opportunity to accelerate critical local road, bridge, and transit projects, we will be able to create thousands of jobs for Michigan residents this year."

Local Jobs Today will offer a combination of short-term and long-term grants to local agencies throughout the state. Sen. Michael Prusi has sponsored a bill that will amend a portion of the transportation funding law to allow the state to issue the bonds for the local transportation grants and loans:

• Under the Local Federal Fund Program, $80 million of the State Transportation Fund (STF) monies will be used to provide the 20 percent match for local projects required for federal funding. This will leverage $320 million in local federal funds. The state will fund the program by issuing bonds to be repaid with future STF funds.
• Under the Advanced Construct Local Loan Program, the state will issue short-term notes, backed by the STF, to accelerate the use of federal transportation dollars by creating a pool of funds local agencies can borrow from to construct federally eligible or designated local projects. These loans will be paid back with expected federal revenues coming to Michigan for local projects over the next three years. Local agencies will be responsible for paying back interest on the short-term loans. Cities, counties, and local transit agencies must be able to identify sufficient total funding to complete the projects and bear any additional costs, including overruns.
• Grants to provide match dollars on local transit projects - equal to their 20 percent federal match requirement - will be made out of available Comprehensive Transportation Fund money.

"Michigan's local road and transit systems are an integral part of our transportation infrastructure," Prusi said. "This program is designed to provide local agencies the resources necessary to make much needed improvements."

The Michigan legislature must pass Prusi's legislation to allow local governments to have shovels in the ground by this spring. MDOT will review the list to ensure that projects meet Local Jobs Today criteria and comply with federal funding requirements.