Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today announced that Tennessee will receive historically high levels of funding for the repair, rehabilitation and replacement of its bridges this year and for the next five years because of President Biden’s Infrastructure Law, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which only Congressman Cohen and Congressman Jim Cooper (TN-05) from the Tennessee Congressional delegation voted for last year. Tennessee will receive $60.4 million in the current fiscal year and $302.1 million over the next five years to address 881 bridges identified as in poor condition.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
“The IIJA will make transformational improvements to our state’s infrastructure, creating good-paying jobs and cutting commuting times. Today’s announcement on much-needed funding for bridge rehabilitation reminds us of the emergency repairs needed just last summer on the crucial national freight corridor over the Hernando DeSoto Bridge linking Tennessee to Arkansas at the nation’s mid-section. These long-term investments will pay dividends for decades.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation today launched the historic Bridge Replacement, Rehabilitation, Preservation, Protection, and Construction Program (Bridge Formula Program), made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program, to be administered by the Federal Highway Administration, represents the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system – providing $27.5 billion to states, territories tribal jurisdictions and the District of Columbia over the next five years. In Fiscal Year 2022, the law will provide will provide $5.5 billion in funding.
Original source can be found here.
