January 15th, 2022 by WCBC Radio

U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Anthony G. Brown, Jamie Raskin, and David Trone (all D-Md.) announced that Maryland will receive $409,507,880 over the next five years to improve bridges and create good-paying jobs across the state. This historic federal funding is one the single largest investments ever made to repair and reconstruct our state’s bridges, including city and county-owned bridges. The lawmakers fought to deliver these funds through the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

 

The Maryland Democratic Congressional Delegation voted to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law by President Biden in November. There are currently 273 bridges in poor condition in Maryland, and this first round of federal funding will dedicate $81,901,576 to their repair. Of this total, $12,285,236 is set aside for bridges not part of the federal highway system, including those owned by counties, cities, towns, or other local agencies.

 

“Bridges across our state are in desperate need of repair. That’s why we fought to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is now delivering over $400 million in federal funds to fix our bridges. This will not only improve the day-to-day lives of Marylanders but also create hundreds of good-paying jobs in the process,” the lawmakers said. “These funds are key to modernizing our state’s transportation network, keeping drivers safe, and bolstering our infrastructure’s resiliency to risks posed by climate change.”

 

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a once-in-a-generation investment in American infrastructure that will provide more than $7 billion in federal funding directly to Maryland over five years to strengthen our roads and bridges, along with our water infrastructure, broadband internet, climate resilience, and more. The lawmakers worked to enact this law in Congress to create good jobs, grow the economy, enhance U.S. competitiveness in the world, and make our transportation system more sustainable and equitable. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) – through which these bridge-related funds are administered – more than $350 billion over five fiscal years for surface transportation programs.

 

Previous Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding announcements from the lawmakers include nearly $800 million in highway funding, $31.5 million for airports, and $140 million for water infrastructure improvements.