California’s $54 billion plan to build roads will boost state’s construction sector

A new report suggest that California’s $54 billion plan to repair/build roads and bridges will boost the state’s economy, including the construction sector, by $183 billion over the next decade, Equipment World reported.

The state’s construction industry would see an additional output of $34 billion and the creation or support of 160,000 jobs, according to the report by Alison Premo Black, chief economist for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA).

For the construction industry, the increased investment will lead to more work to build and maintain highways, bridges and transit systems. The wages paid to workers will then spill over into the larger economy as those workers spend their pay. And the improvements to the state’s transportation systems will provide future economic boosts.

The transportation investment law, also known as SB 1, was signed into law in April 2017. It will support the repair, repaving and reconstruction of over 84,000 lane miles on nearly 19,000 miles of roadway, including work on over 18,300 lane miles of urban interstate, and 7,000 lane miles of rural interstate over 10 years. Additional investment under SB 1 will enable the replacement of an additional 556 state and local bridges in the first five years of the program. This will result in 387 fewer structurally deficient or functionally obsolete bridges, according to the report.

Of the $53.1 billion in SB 1 spending, $27.8 billion is estimated to go toward highway, street and bridge construction, $3.2 billion toward transit construction and $5.4 billion for other transit activity. The remaining $16.6 billion spending will go toward planning and design work, right of way purchases and other project support activities.

The study was commissioned by the California Alliance for Jobs, California Transit Association, and Transportation California.

To see the full report, click here.