Governor Granholm announced Friday that six Michigan communities would receive $14 million in recovery grant funds for transportation upgrades, according to a news release.
The Federal Transit Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation, allocates the Recovery Act grants to urban communities for vehicle replacement, facilities renovation and construction, and preventive maintenance and to improve accessibility.
Flint fared well in this:
Flint Mass Transportation Authority (MTA) will receive $7,985,000 for communications and security equipment to provide enhanced local emergency response and for preventive maintenance. …
Robert J. Foy, general manager of the Flint MTA, reports that nearly $8 million in Recovery Act funding will create up to 100 jobs within the next 120 days – both at the MTA and in the private sector – for fleet maintenance and upgrades as well as installation and implementation of efficient, up-to-date digital communications technology.
“The money provided by the Recovery Act will have a very positive impact on Flint and Genesee County, allowing us to operate much more efficiently, and that’s important in times when dollars are hard to come by,” said Foy. “The Recovery Act money we will invest in maintaining and upgrading our vehicles will increase their lifespan from 13 years to approximately 25 years.”
Other communities receiving the grant funds include Bay City, Holland, Jackson, Niles, and Port Huron.
Source: Michigan State Government news release
Lapeer was not in that list, although the county commission has asked legislators to advocate for stimulus funds to upgrade replace the E911 dispatch system with a digital one. It looks much more likely, however, that we’ll see a millage request.
