Diverting his focus momentarily from health care reform and Afghanistan, President Obama last week joined Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at the site of the Fairfax County Parkway Extension in Northern Virginia to announce more than 8,000 highway projects have been funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) since its passage in February.

"We are rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and waterways," said President Obama. "We are strengthening our nation‘s infrastructure in ways that will leave lasting benefits in our communities, making them stronger, making them safer, and making them better places to live."

Of the nearly $27 billion available for highway projects through the Recovery Act, $19.5 billion has been obligated for 8,050 projects nationwide. As of October 9, 2009, 4,760 highway projects were under construction.

The Fairfax County Parkway Extension project is adding much needed capacity to a route that, by 2011, will serve nearly 66,900 daily drivers - an increase of nearly 10 percent over current levels. At an estimated $140 million, it is Virginia‘s largest ARRA-funded project.