U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Garret Graves (R-LA), and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) reintroduced legislation that would establish a dedicated source of funding to repair American bridges.
The Bridge Investment Act, previously introduced in 2019 and 2017, would address the need to repair the country’s 45,000+ structurally deficient bridges while streamlining the repair process for local and off-system bridges and creating good-paying jobs across the country.
“Investing in our local infrastructure is critical to growing our economy, particularly as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” LaHood said. “Illinois ranks number three in the nation for the most bridges in poor condition, and the 18th District of Illinois has over 400 structurally deficient bridges which makes up almost 10% of the states total structurally-deficient bridges.”
LaHood and Blumenauer serve on the House Ways and Means Committee, while Graves and Maloney serve on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Currently, the United States has more than 45,000 bridges in need of significant repairs or in need of replacement to address structural elements that are in poor condition. Many more have outdated designs that contribute to accidents and traffic congestion, the lawmakers said.
According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, an estimated $41.8 billion is needed to address the backlog of bridge repairs. Despite this, there is no dedicated federal funding source to provide states with the necessary resources to improve bridge conditions.