Rep. Peter DeFazio, (D-OR) the chair of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said a new report highlighting the disrepair of one in every three U.S. bridges is proof of why we cannot wait to invest in our infrastructure.
DeFazio cited the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s analysis of bridges in the United States that shows 230,000 require repair and 46,000 are “structurally deficient” and in poor condition.
“This analysis is sobering, but unfortunately, not all that surprising given the fact the Federal government has ignored the infrastructure needs of our country for decades,” said Chair DeFazio. “We’re attempting to run a 21st-century economy on a 1950s-era transportation system, which simply does not work, and it shouldn’t take a bridge or economic collapse to get the Federal government to pay attention.”
The report comes as transportation organizations are urging Congress to invest in infrastructure improvements as part of the fourth phase of stimulus designed to help the economy recover once the social distancing and “stay at home” orders issued to combat the coronavirus have been lifted.
DeFazio said his Moving Forward Framework proposal released earlier this year was a blueprint for investing in infrastructure to make it “smarter, safer, and made to last.”
Investing in infrastructure would also create jobs and support American manufacturing, he said.
“I am again encouraging President Trump and my Congressional colleagues to work together to finally pass wide-sweeping legislation to bring our transportation infrastructure into the 21st Century. The cost of doing nothing is too high.”