The Road Back To Jobs

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Story Published: Dec 1, 2008 at 5:38 PM PST

By Steve Wellman

Back in the depression, millions went to work building roads, mines, railroads and other projects.

Now President-elect Obama believes the same approach can happen today. I wanted to know if an old plan might still work. So, I went to the State Department of Transportation to find out.

Don Whitehouse is Regional Administrator for WSDOT. Whitehouse says he hasn't heard anything definite about stimulus money but thinks if it comes it will be toward fast start-up projects. "Assuming they want a stimulus that can get people to work sooner than later I see overlays being more the type of project," he says.

That would mean mostly re-paving existing roads. And while some of those jobs would be high skilled, many related jobs would be general labor and wholesalers that don't require specialized training.

Whitehouse continues "There's not only the guys doing the asphalt there's landscape... there's labor... plus all the materials suppliers."

Right now D.O.T. has several large projects near the "go" point. Like a multiple round-about in Union Gap and a major truck by-pass for downtown Selah.

Steve Wellman says "Right now this is just a weed-choked gravel lot but if you look at a chart you see the blue line that's the new SR823 bypass it's going to come right through here go behind the Red Apple and pass on through town."

Most of the work will be done by contractors for the state, according to Whitehouse. "About 3/4 of my budget is spent on the private sector."

If big federal bucks are sent to the states for road projects, it could in fact mean real growth in area employment. Locals are keeping their fingers crossed. "I would hope so. It would have to," says one woman.

Putting people back to work rebuilding roads we all use every day. It worked once. Maybe it will again.

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