Lawmakers, Freight Advocates Call on Congress to Create Dedicated Funding in Transportation Bill

Two U.S. representatives, a freight trade group and port authority and local officials from around the country have called on Congress to pass a transportation reauthorization bill that contains funding dedicated to rebuilding and upgrading  freight infrastructure.

Reps. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) and Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) were among the speakers at an April 21 press conference outside the Capitol, calling for action on a bill.

“To remain competitive as a nation we must invest in our national freight infrastructure — repair it and upgrade it,” Lowenthal said.

Lawrence said, "We have to look beyond the short-term fixes of the past decade and commit ourselves to properly addressing our freight infrastructure crisis."

They are sponsoring a bill that would tax freight weigh bills and dedicate the revenue for projects that upgrade the freight system, whether they are for highways, ports, airports or railways.

Speakers at the “Call to Action” event said Congress must act in the face of a May 31 deadline, which is when the current transportation funding reauthorization bill expires.

On the same day, one of the sponsors of the event, the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors, issued a report listing three dozen projects, all of them integral to freight mobility.

“Without the ability to quickly and cost-effectively move goods into, out of and through the United States, America will not be able to maintain our standard of living and high employment levels,” the report said.

“A campaign of strategic investment to expand capacity and increase efficiency is needed to maintain — and grow — U.S. productivity and global competitiveness,”  the report said.

Among the 36 projects named in the report is the Brent Spence Bridge, which carries Interstate 71 and I-75 across the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Covington, Kentucky. 

Also mentioned are various bottlenecks along the I-5 corridor in Southern California and Portland, Oregon; and critical port connectors in Florida, Virginia, California and Washington.