U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood visits Tampa Bay area

Tampa, Florida - The Crosstown Connector, an elevated roadway connecting I-4 with the Selmon Expressway, got a visit from the U.S. Transportation Secretary.

"The economic recovery money, the stimulus money really does work," says Secretary Ray LaHood.

The $536 million project is among the largest in the nation. Secretary LaHood said, "This project, it's the envy of the rest of the country for the jobs it's providing, for the transportation and modernization it's creating. It will be a model."

"Forty-two thousand cars a day, 11,000 trucks and 14,000 new jobs created," Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told a small crowd about the economic impact the stimulus money has had on the area.

Mayor Buckhorn and U.S. Representative Kathy Castor said the Crosstown Connector project will make the Bay area more economically competitive.

Mayor Buckhorn said, "When this Crosstown Connector is finished Mr. Secretary, this is not just a transportation improvement, this is an economical developmental tool."

Castor said, "As the Panama Canal expands our port, the largest port in the state of Florida is well positioned to leverage this new transportation amenity."    

Secretary LaHood's visit is an opportunity to push the President's new Transportation Bill. During the State of the Union, President Obama proposed using half of the money saved from the Iraq War to pay for more transportation projects the other half to lower the debt.

Secretary LaHood said, "We can't do creative, innovative things if we don't have a blueprint. The blueprint is the Transportation Bill." He added, "This is good use of taxpayer dollars. It puts friends and neighbors to work."

Meanwhile Egyptian officials are prohibiting Secretary LaHood's son from leaving Egypt, because he is on a no-fly list for working with a group that promotes democracy and human rights.

LaHood said that he speaks with his son several times a day and said his son is safe.

Isabel Mascarenas