By Jon Bell

Though few people have been out making new investments lately, there is one — though he’s more entity than person, really — who has: Uncle Sam.

With Congressional passage of the $775 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in February and then the $410 billion Omnibus Appropriations Act in March, the federal government has become quite the financial backer.

In Oregon, that means more than $6.2 billion in direct and indirect payments for a range of projects, from nearly $82 million for TriMet’s MAX line along I-205 to $460,000 for upgrades at the Happy Canyon and Pendleton Round-Up facilities in Eastern Oregon.

Among the latest projects to receive federal funding are $16.3 million worth of upgrades at the Port of Portland, including crane and wharf modernization projects, and the refurbishing of a taxiway at Portland International Airport. The Port of Coos Bay is slated to receive $2.5 million for upgrading rails.

Beyond the ports, other transportation projects include the Columbia River Crossing, which received $3 million for design work; the Portland Streetcar, which hauled in $45 million for a new loop from the Lloyd District to OMSI; and Warrenton’s Sunset Empire Transportation District, which will spend $465,000 on new buses, shelters and maintenance equipment.

Throw in $380,000 that will be used to study a former Christmas Valley military site for potential production of renewable energy and you’ve got a pretty good cross-section of the projects that will be helped along by Uncle Sam’s guiding hand.

In April the General Services Administration put a few more sprinkles on top by announcing it would spend about $150 million in stimulus funds to upgrade two federal buildings in downtown Portland and one in Baker City

List researched by Jon Bell

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