White House Announces $60 Billion for Roads, Bridges
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Nearly $60 billion in new federal funds will be dedicated to repair surface transportation corridors nationwide, the Biden administration announced Oct. 11, unveiling an action plan to expedite construction of infrastructure projects.
The funds from the Federal Highway Administration were approved by the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Projects in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico will be among the funds’ recipients.
“America’s roads and bridges are the vital arteries of our transportation system, connecting people and goods across the country,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “Because of President [Joe] Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, today we are sending historic levels of funding to every state to help modernize the roads and bridges Americans rely on every day.” Biden signed the IIJA into law on Nov. 15. It is commonly referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure law.
FHWA today announced that it has released $59.9B in FY2023 apportionments for 12 formula programs to support roads, bridges, & tunnels, carbon emission reduction, and safety improvements for all 50 States, the DC & Puerto Rico. https://t.co/G4pjwNBf6F #BipartisanInfrastructureLaw pic.twitter.com/NCOBHIPA6E — Federal Highway Admn (@USDOTFHWA) October 11, 2022
“These historic investments in American infrastructure give states the flexibility they need to determine how to allocate funds in order to replace deficient bridges, improve safety for all road users, and reduce carbon emissions by improving transportation infrastructure for communities throughout each state,” said acting FHWA administrator Stephanie Pollack.
Following the FHWA funding announcement, the White House on Oct. 13 unveiled a set of strategies for expediting the completion of big-ticket infrastructure projects nationwide.
Aspects of the plan’s strategy include directing FHWA to collaborate with state departments of transportation on innovations in transportation construction. Additionally, the departments of Commerce and Interior would proceed with accelerating environmental permitting related to high-speed internet projects on tribal lands.
Specifically, the plan targets transportation programs’ permitting processes, workforce readiness, equitable access, technical assistance and on-budget project delivery.
The National Park Service will develop and distribute electronic manuals designed to ensure projects are managed to best-in-practice principles. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will proceed with alternative delivery approaches to accelerate water infrastructure projects, among other strategies.
.@VP said it best at the close of today’s White House Accelerating Infrastructure Summit:
When we work together to deliver clean water, to rebuild our roads, and to invest in clean energy, we build back better. We advance public health, opportunity, and equity for all. pic.twitter.com/EffdU7cD63 — Mitch Landrieu (@MitchLandrieu46) October 13, 2022
“We’re talking about better roads, better bridges, airports, ports, clean air and safe water [and] faster internet,” said White House infrastructure policy coordinator Mitch Landrieu. “The bipartisan infrastructure law is also providing the first down payment toward achieving our administration’s climate agenda.” During an Oct. 13 White House event, he described the IIJA as, “the largest investment in infrastructure since the 1950s and ’60s. Now we’ve got to put that money to work.”
According to the White House, the administration is engaged in a “whole-of-government effort — in partnership with business, labor, states, local, territorial and civic leaders — to implement these laws effectively and deliver for the American people.”
Stakeholders mentioned in the action plan include the Eno Center for Transportation, the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Council of Engineering Companies, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
Shawn Wilson, president of AASHTO and secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, attended the Oct. 13 event. “With this new infrastructure law, what’s happening today is needing to build capacity to build a pipeline of projects to be able to leverage that future workforce,” he said.
“As we approach the one-year milestone of the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Biden-Harris administration is determined to accelerate our progress,” the White House said. “Federal agencies will do their part, focused as never before on accelerating the pace of design, construction and permitting.”
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