President Biden announced on Friday that his administration is funding more than $5 billion for states to repair and rebuild bridges across the nation.
The president's announcement came Friday as he spoke about his administration's efforts over the last two months since he signed the bipartisan infrastructure package into law. When the United States invests in infrastructure, it is investing in opportunity, according to the president. The president said the law provides the country's largest investment in bridges since the creation of the interstate highway system.
On Friday, the Department of Transportation's Federal Highway AdministrationHighway Administration launched the Bridge Formula Program, which Biden administration officials describe as a historic investment in bridges, made possible by the infrastructure law.
The program will provide $26.5 billion to all 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico over the next five years, and another $825 million to revive old bridges. The money is critical to the maintenance of the 43,000 bridges across the nation that are in poor condition, according to officials.
The program will distribute $5.3 billion for the current federal fiscal year to states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, along with $165 million for tribes.
The program is expected to improve as many as 15,000 highway bridges, in addition to providing funds for states to replace, restore, protect and construct bridges.
The president said there are 45,000 bridges, 45,000 that are important, to connect us, bridges to make America work across our country right now. My infrastructure law has $40 billion in funding for bridge improvements. The president said that $12.5 billion of the $40 billion will go toward replacing some of the most economically significant bridges in the country. The president said on Friday that his administration was releasing the first year of the program in investing in bridges - Directing $5.5 billion to stats to try to repair and rebuild them to make them safer and more usable. This is an investment, he said. It's going to help connect whole towns and regions to new opportunities. We are making sure you are not left behind and left alone. The president said infrastructure law's investments are consequential. He said that we're just getting started rebuilding better than ever before. We have never done that before, but now we are connecting forgotten communities, capping wells that are dangerous, strengthening our power grid to be more resilient to extreme weather changes. He said these investments are investments that our country has never made. Senior officials outlined the progress the Biden administration has made.
The Federal Aviation Administration has announced $3 billion for 3,000 airports across the nation to upgrade critical infrastructure and modernize airports to be safer, more sustainable and more reliable, officials said.
For highways, officials said the Federal Highway AdministrationHighway Administration announced $52.5 billion in federal highway funding for fiscal year 2022, a figure officials called the largest in decades. An additional $260 million was allocated for highway safety programs to reduce traffic crashes.
For water, the Environmental Protection Agency announced $7.4 billion in funding for states to upgrade aging water infrastructure, sewer systems, pipes and service lines.
The administration has dedicated $240 million to improving ports and supply chains across the nation.
The president stated that there is nothing beyond our capacity when we work together, despite the bipartisan nature of infrastructure law. Biden said that when we get this done, we'll get back to beating the world again. We'll be number one in the world, instead of where we are now at No. The quality of our infrastructure is 13 in terms of the quality of our infrastructure. Biden said that it's going to mean more jobs, good paying jobs, safer communities and lower cost.