Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx at Memorial Bridge: ‘We Can’t Keep Deferring Maintenance’
ARLINGTON, Va. — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has hopped on a bus to tour regions of the country to point out crumbling infrastructure and encourage federal lawmakers to approve additional funding for big-ticket projects.
On June 1, the secretary didn’t have to travel far from his office in southeast Washington, D.C., to make the point.
Standing in front of the Memorial Bridge, a structure that has linked Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial for more than eight decades, Foxx reminded people of the impact associated with aging infrastructure. Emergency repairs were recently ordered after engineers determined severe corrosion problems on the bridge.
Sen. Kaine, Sec. Foxx at Memorial Bridge calling for infrastructure funds pic.twitter.com/LdcbP186WC
— Eugene Mulero (@eugenemulero) June 1, 2015
“We can’t keep deferring maintenance,” Foxx told reporters. “The price tag is going up every year we wait. It’s not like it’s going down. It’s going up and, you know. Meanwhile we’re missing an opportunity to put people to work and get this bridge in better shape.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who joined Foxx to address the media, echoed the secretary’s sentiment. The lawmakers urged constituents to press their representatives to back long-term federal investments in infrastructure. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis also attended the event.
“We need to wake the public up. They clearly believe that as long as we can get across that bridge, who cares,” said Holmes Norton, who unveiled legislation that would authorize $460 million annually for the National Park Service for the federal lands transportation program for fiscal 2016-2021.
The legislation also would establish the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Transportation Project program, which would be funded at $150 million for fiscal 2016-2021.
The National Park Service supervises the bridge, and the agency this week announced it will close a second lane of traffic. Lane and sidewalk closures are likely to continue through the end of the year. About 70,000 vehicles utilize the bridge during an average workday. Replacing the bridge is estimated to cost $250 million.
