WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH),
chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, announced
that the U.S. Department of
Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has
opened applications for the Bridge Investment Program,
which will allow communities to apply
for funding to repair and replace outdated bridges. These historic investments in bridge infrastructure were
made possible by Brown’s
Bridge Investment Act, which was
included in the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law, which
Brown helped write and pass. Brown first
introduced the
Bridge Investment Act in 2018.
“Ohio
has more than 3,200 bridges that need to be repaired or replaced to make them
safer and reduce congestion. Rebuilding bridges will create new jobs and
make our country more competitive. Plenty of politicians have talked about this
– but, we’re finally getting it done,” said Brown. “Over the coming months,
our office will be working with communities across Ohio to ensure that our
state gets our fair share of this investment.”
Brown’s
Bridge Investment Act, provides $12.5
billion in funding to repair and replace nationally and regionally significant
bridges, like the Brent Spence
Bridge in Ohio, with nearly $2.4 billion available in grant
funding for Fiscal Year 2022. The package also provides Ohio $9.8 billion of formula funding
to repair, replace, and upgrade roads and bridges throughout the state.
- Brown’s legislation establishes a competitive grant
program to assist with the repair and replacement of deficient and
outdated bridges and ease the national bridge repair backlog.
- The program will provide support for major bridges like
the Brent Spence, which carries 3 percent of the nation's GDP every
day. Brown has vowed to ensure the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor
project is a top priority in this new program. Ohio and Kentucky
have applied for funding under an initial multimodal grant opportunity,
and they can apply for additional funding under the Bridge Investment
Program, with new formula funding to Ohio and Kentucky providing
additional support to the project. The Western Hills Viaduct in
Cincinnati is also eligible as a major project.
- Bridges of all sizes can receive funding under the new
program, including local bridges owned by cities and counties.
Senator Brown has worked with Ohio’s County Engineers and
other local Ohio leaders to help them identify opportunities to receive
funding.
- Brown’s legislation and the additional formula in the
bipartisan bill will accelerate aid to Ohio’s 3,200 bridges that need repairs. The 2020 American Society of Civil
Engineers’ Report Card for America’s
Infrastructure found
there are at least 46,154 bridges in the U.S. that are ‘structurally
deficient’ and 231,000 still need repair and preservation work.
The
announcement of this competitive grant program comes
on top of the funding that Brown
announced earlier this
year. In January, the Ohio Department of Transportation had so far received
$96.7 million in bridge formula funding, and will receive a total of $483.3
million in bridge formula funding over the next five years.
The final bill was signed into law in November and
passed with several key provisions Brown
secured for Ohio communities. As the Chairman of a key committee on
infrastructure legislation, Brown delivered
big investments for Ohio. The historic,
bipartisan law also includes Brown’s
Build America Buy America Act, which will
ensure American labor, iron, and steel are used for these publicly funded
bridge, broadband, waterway, and public transit projects.
###
