A group of more than a dozen senators introduced legislation Wednesday that would invest in nationally and regionally significant bridges.
The group, including U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rob Portman (R-OH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), John Boozman (R-AZ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cindy Hyde-Sith (R-MS), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Bob Casey (D-PA), introduced the Bridge Investment Act, previously introduced in 2019.
The legislation would create a competitive grant program for repairs to and replacement of deficient and outdated bridges to ease the national bridge repair backlog.
“Rebuilding bridges across the U.S. will create new jobs and make our country more competitive,” said Brown, who serves as chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. “Ohio has more than 3,200 bridges that need to be repaired or replaced to make them safer and reduce congestion. But states and cities can’t do it alone – they need real investment to help fix these outdated bridges that clog up our roads and leave drivers at greater risk of an accident. This bipartisan program will help deliver a new Brent Spence and make travel safer across Ohio.”
The legislation was introduced before the Senate Committee on Environment, and Public Works began the markup of highway legislation this week. The EPW committee is expected to vote on the legislation Thursday, and then it is expected to be included in a larger surface transportation bill that will head to the Senate floor.
“Oklahomans are well aware of the need to invest in bridges,” said Inhofe. “Our state used to be one of the worst states for having a high number of structurally deficient bridges, but because of my work in SAFETEA-LU, MAP-21, and the FAST Act, Oklahoma received the federal resources needed to make bridge repairs and replacement a priority. Today, we are ninth in the nation for having the fewest number of structurally deficient highway system bridges. Now, we cannot rest on our past success, we need to continue to make improving our nation’s infrastructure a priority.”
The legislation would provide $3.265 billion to fund the Highway Trust Fund, establishing a bridge investment program for grants covering bridge safety, efficiency, and reliability projects. In addition, the bill would authorize an additional $3.265 billion in future appropriations for the bridge program. The bill would require projects to operate under strong Buy America rules, ensure that the bill applies to bridges of all sizes, and allow entities of all sizes and scopes to apply for the funding.
“The Ocean State has no shortage of bridges in serious need of repair or replacement,” said Whitehouse. “Competing pressures on state and local budgets over decades have led to a massive national backlog of bridge projects. Our bipartisan Bridge Reinvestment Act will invest billions of dollars in bridge upgrades in Rhode Island and across the country, making roads safer for drivers and creating good jobs in the process.”