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DOT 44-06
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Contact: Nancy Singer
Tel.: (202) 366-0660
Florida Receives $480 Million For Repairing
Hurricane-Damaged Traffic Signals And Highways
Florida is receiving $480 million to pay the state’s cost for replacing traffic
signals, clearing highway debris and repairing roads in 21 counties devastated
by Hurricanes Rita and Wilma, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta
said today.
High winds from last year’s hurricanes swept northeast across Florida, causing
widespread damage to more than two thousand traffic signals in Broward and Palm
Beach Counties alone. The federal transportation funds will reimburse the state
for repairing or replacing the damaged traffic signals and highway signs,
restoring washed out highways, and clearing downed trees, sand and other debris
from roads immediately after the storms.
“Communities throughout Florida were able to move quickly, making repairs to
traffic signals and roads because they knew they could count on us for support,
for guidance and for reimbursement,” said Mineta.
Today’s funding is part of an emergency highway aid package for Gulf Coast
states requested by President Bush and approved by Congress the end of last
year, according to Mineta.
The Transportation Department earlier this year provided $42.8 million to
Florida for Hurricane Katrina highway damages, raising the total the state has
received to more than $523 million to repair or rebuild federally-supported
highways and bridges.
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Briefing Room