With Critical Funds to Repair Northwest Ohio Roads and Bridges Set to Run Out, Brown Calls for Six-Year, Bipartisan Transportation Bill

TOLEDO, OH — Northwest Ohio is home to more than 260 structurally deficient bridges. With a looming deadline to pass critical highway funding fast approaching, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called for a bipartisan approach to fixing America’s highways and bridges by passing a long-term transportation bill. Unless the federal transportation bill is reauthorized, critical road and bridge projects in Northwest Ohio could be delayed and hundreds of construction jobs will be at risk.

“Infrastructure investments helped attract the workers, business, and investments that made America a superpower,” Brown said. “We built the best infrastructure in the world, but have watched it crumble for decades. That’s why a long-term investment in our nation’s infrastructure is vital to strengthening our nation’s economic competitiveness and ensuring that thousands of hardworking Ohioans continue to rebuild our bridges and roads.”

According to the Federal Highway Administration, Ohio has more than 2,200 “structurally deficient” bridges, including more than 260 in Northwest Ohio alone. These bridges—located in all 88 Ohio counties—depend on funding from the highway bill for critical improvements and upgrades. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), if the projected shortfall is not fixed soon, by August, DOT will be forced to slow down payments to the Ohio DOT ahead of the September 30, 2014 deadline for extending the current law.

In 2012, Congress passed MAP-21, a two-year extension and update of the highway bill that included a number of reforms intended to speed up construction while funding highway programs at previously authorized levels, roughly $50 billion per year. Ohio receives nearly $1.5 billion from the Highway Trust Fund every year. If the federal contribution to states only kept pace with gas tax revenue, Ohio would experience an annual 30 percent reduction—worth $420 million—in contributions from DOT. Without reauthorization, the more than 109,000 Ohio jobs tied to building and maintaining Ohio’s transportation infrastructure are in jeopardy.

Earlier this year, Transportation for America—a leading transportation think tank—released a report detailing the amount of federal dollars each state and metro area will be forced to forgo if action is not taken. In Ohio, nearly 59 percent of its capital budget for transportation projects comes from federal highway dollars. Without these critical federal resources, state and local governments face critical shortfalls in addressing improvement projects and structural upgrades to local bridges and roads.  

Today, Brown visited the Anthony Wayne Bridge (“High Level Bridge”) construction site, a project that is underway but could experience delays if the Highway Trust Fund is allowed to become insolvent. Joining Brown to call for immediate action were Lucas County Engineer, Keith Early; and Carly Allen, of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 697. Allen spoke on behalf of the hundreds of workers who could lose jobs as a result of the Highway Trust Fund running out of money. Brown was also joined by Warren Henry, the Vice President of Transportation for the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments.

“Within the next few weeks, the Highway Trust Fund will run out of money impacting construction projects in our region and across the U.S.,” Henry said. “Quoting from USA Today, ‘the country that built the world's greatest road system apparently can no longer muster the vision to pave it—a marker of ineptitude that is hard to surpass.’ This is a real and urgent issue that if not addressed now, will result in highway construction sites abandoned at the peak of our summer travel period. We urge Congress to act now and provide reliable funding that will support our transportation system—the backbone of our economy.”

Brown has been an outspoken advocate for increased domestic investment in our nation’s infrastructure. In 2011, Brown announced new legislation that would create a National Infrastructure Bank to provide loans and loan guarantees for critical infrastructure projects of national importance that increase economic competitiveness, bolster exports, and encourage investment. The bank would also allow federal financing to be coupled with other sources of private debt and private equity to fund these projects. This would serve as an added incentive for private sector participation in project financing. Every $5 billion in infrastructure investments leverages an estimated $50 billion.

While in Northwest Ohio today, Brown also visited students and counselors during their second and final day of CampMed. CampMed is a science and medical camp program for rising ninth graders run by the University of Toledo’s Area Health Education Center (AHEC) and funded in part through Title VII (Health Professions) of the Public Health Service Act.

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