WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a meeting today with Elaine Chao President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) pressed Chao on federal investment for the replacement of Cincinnati’s Brent Spence Bridge.
“Anyone who’s driven across the Brent Spence Bridge understands the pressing need to replace it to protect the safety of Ohio and Kentucky drivers,” said Brown. “I will hold President-elect Trump, and his Administration, to his promise to replace the Brent Spence Bridge. As a Kentuckian, Secretary Chao knows that Ohio and Kentucky residents can’t afford to be taxed by toll roads and she understands firsthand how critical the Brent Spence Bridge is to the economic competiveness of the region. I look forward to working with this Administration and my Republican colleagues to get Ohioans to work building the new Brent Spence Bridge with American-made steel.”
In the long-term, bipartisan transportation bill that became law in December 2015, Brown successfully fought to include a provision that created a new competitive grant program to fund major infrastructure projects, like the replacement of the Brent Spence Bridge. The Brent Spence Bridge project is eligible to apply for funds from an $800 million per year pot of funding, which will grow to $1 billion annually in Fiscal Year 2020. The program is intended for large projects that when completed will reduce the impact of congestion, generate national and regional economic benefits, and facilitate the efficient movement of freight.
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