Top administration officials fanned out across the country Wednesday to tout $2.1 billion in infrastructure grants for four major bridge projects.
President Joe Biden visited Kentucky, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in Chicago and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg flew to Connecticut to announce the new dollars. Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu Thursday will visit San Francisco, where the Golden Gate Bridge also received a chunk of funds.
"You can't have the best economy in the world without having the best infrastructure in the world," Biden said Wednesday in Covington, Kentucky, near the Brent Spence Bridge, which won
"After years of politics being so divisive, there are bright spots across the country, and the Brent Spence Bridge is one of them," Biden said.
Joining Biden was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, illustrating the bipartisan support for large infrastructure projects, as well as Democrats Sen. Sherrod Brown, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Ohio's GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, all of whom have pushed for years to renovate what they say is the nation's second-worst truck bottleneck.
The $1.6 billion federal grant for the bridge is the largest federal transportation grant in the country, officials said. The Brent Spence project carries a total price tag of $3.6 billion.
The $2.1 billion in federal bridge funding marks the first round of the Large Bridge Project Grants under the competitive Bridge Investment Program that's part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The IIJA features $40 billion over five years for bridges.
California's Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District will receive $400 million to replace, retrofit and install structural elements on the Golden Gate Bridge to increase resiliency against earthquakes.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation won $158 million for the Gold Star Memorial Bridge, a five-lane span that's part of I-95 over the Thames River between New London and Groton, Conn.
Chicago will receive $144 million to rehab four draw bridges over the Calumet River, which allow barge and ship traffic to travel to the Illinois International Port. In addition to Harris, Sen. Dick Durbin came to Chicago to tout the grant.
"This is just the beginning of the good news," Durbin said, adding that of the $40 billion allocated for bridges in the IIJA, $4 billion will go to Illinois.
The Large Bridge Project Grants are for projects that cost more than $100 million.
"Priority consideration was given to projects ready to proceed to construction, as well as those that require pre-construction funding and would benefit from a multi-year grant agreement," the U.S. DOT said in a statement.
The grant funds are part of fiscal year 2022 funds, the DOT said. The money comes on top of $5.3 billion in fiscal 2023 bridge formula funds and $18.4 million in 2022 bridge grants.
