p>President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday might be the opportunity for the construction industry where ideas could become reality. Years have passed and promises have been just that, ideas that lead nowhere; instead the housing crisis is deeper, more Americans are looking for new jobs and corporations are still waiting economic reliefs and tax credits that could really impulse the economic recovery. The 2012 State of the Union address could be the last opportunity from this government to mark and really demonstrate what they are capable of.

The State of the Union should be focused on providing solutions and helping the construction industry with true and realistic ideas. President Obama might be focusing on:

1. Present fresh ideas that could really help the foreclosure market
2. Implement a payroll tax cut package
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3. Improve the country's energy independence providing tax credits on renewable energy projects.
4. The manufacturing area should receive a boost for the creation of new jobs.
5. Establish a true plan to integrate high-speed rail in metro areas.
6. Present a multi-billion plan to improve decaying US infrastructure like other fast-growing economies are establishing.
7. Reduce permitting bureaucracy and establish consistent regulations for all construction projects.
8. Sponsor Public Private Partnership to improve airports, power grids, transportation and water distribution systems all across America.
9. Welcome new financing and business alternatives to ensure sustainable, safe and effective infrastructure performance for future generations.

The Keystone XL project rejection from the US Government today, might not be the end. The controversial project could be looking for alternatives and the Keystone XL project might be build in a near future. TransCanada, the company behind the 13 billion project, remains fully committed to the construction of Keystone XL and its schedule might be once again reajusted.TransCanada said it plans to reapply for a permit and expects a new application would be processed in an expedited fashion, paving the way for an in-service date of late 2014.

The company claims that the Keystone XL project would create tens of thousands of jobs while reducing the needs for imported fuel, resulting in lower oil prices. Environmentalists had voiced their concern about the impact of the Keystone project.

The Tim Tebow Foundation announced their plans to build a new hospital in Philippines. Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos quarterback, is happy to contribute in his birth country, helping kids to receive better healthcare attention. Cure International along with Tim Tebow Foundation plan to break ground on the new medical facility during the following months and complete the building by mid-2013. The 'Tebow CURE Hospital' would have 30 patient beds and treat such maladies as club foot and bow legs on the island of Mindanao.

The Broncos superstar has opened 12 other hospital around the world, including Haiti, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. Time Tebow Foundation with the partnership of CURE International expects to build a $3.1 million medical facility that would provide services to the poorest, most needy children. The foundation is asking Tim Tebow fans to consider joining them in this effort.

_{Photo by Jeff Kern}

The improvements to U.S. 52 and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive are part of the ambitious $1 billion master planned projects for the NCDOT. The list of projects over the next decade will enhance traffic patterns, while providing better connectors for the NC State residents.

The N.C. Department of Transportation recently completed improvements to the entrance and exit ramps on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at Business 40. The DOT also is widening Martin Luther King Drive and repaving a half mile of U.S. 52 from Business 40 to Akron Drive. This project costs $13 million.

Improvements to U.S. 52 would eliminate the ramp at Third, Fourth and Fifth streets to add an additional lane in each direction on U.S. 52 from Business 40 to King Drive.

But the DOT will make extensive improvements to the U.S. 52 interchange at Martin Luther King and Akron drives to help businesses grow on that street and provide access to neighborhoods. The DOT also will decide by 2014 on a design for the Business 40 renovation, which will cost about $70 million and is scheduled to begin in 2018.

State transportation officials will begin acquiring right-of-way and moving utility lines next fall for the long-delayed eastern leg of the Northern Beltway. Construction of the highway from U.S. 158 to Business 40 in western Kernersville is expected to cost $158 million.

The entire eastern leg would connect U.S. 52 north of Winston-Salem to U.S. 311 at a cost of more than $800 million.

_{Photo By NCDOT Communications}