U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) said he is prioritizing infrastructure projects as he introduced two transportation infrastructure bills in Congress Tuesday.
“Transportation infrastructure improvements are vitally important to Minnesotans who know the potholes that need repair and roads that need more lanes, like on highways 10, 35, and 94. Much worse than potholes, Minnesotans all remember a bridge collapse that took the lives of 13 and injured 145,” Emmer said. “It is a disservice to Minnesotans that we do not have proper roadways and transportation routes for safe travel. Two of the bills I am introducing set aside funds dedicated to making sure intersections, interchanges, and structurally deficient bridges are safe, and congestion is relieved.”
The first bill, The National Interchange/Intersection Safety Construction Program Act, would prioritize $250 million from the Highway Trust Fund for intersections and interchanges, improve safety, and increase local control over federal transportation dollars. Emmer’s office said the legislation will not increase spending or require additional appropriation but instead would prioritize the spending of annual existing federal highway funds for local entities.
The funding, the bill said, could not be taken from the Mass Transit Account.
The second bill, the National Bridge Replacement and Improvement Act, would create a grant program for bridge improvements, replacements, or repairs to help the U.S. Department of Transportation’s goal of eliminating the backlog of bridge projects by 2032. The bill would require state and/or local commitments to bridge projects, the bill said.
The bill would allocate $1 billion from the Highway Trust Fund each year and would be awarded through a competitive grant program. Through the bill, the federal government would cover 80 percent of the selected projects.