MichiganRadio

Orange Barrels Proliferate As Economic Stimulus Money Is Spent ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - Orange barrels are proliferating both in downtown areas and along state highways in Michigan, as the state gets fiscal stimulus road and transportation money into the hands of construction companies.

Leslie Fritz is director of the state economic recovery office.

She says there are lots more highway road projects than usual this month because of the Recovery Act.

Michigan had to spend half of its federal stimulus money within the first 120 days.

"That's very quick -- and we got here in Michigan over 800 million dollars for roads and bridges -- so that's a lot of spending very quickly," she says, "Which is necessary, if it's going to have that economic stimulus effect like it was designed to have."

Frits says the spending has helped reduce underemployment and unemployment in the construction trades.

"There was tremendous unemployment in that sector of the economy," she says, "And a lot of those folks are being called back, or seeing their hours increased."

States were also allowed to use Recovery Act money to eliminate interest on loans to cities for sewer and water system improvements.

That accounts for a number of water and sewer system projects getting underway sooner than they might have otherwise, in cities like Ann Arbor and Lansing.

Fritz says there will also be quite a bit of Recovery Act money left over to spend next year, so additional orange barrels will be going up again in the spring. © Copyright 2012, Michigan Radio