April 13 (UPI) — The Biden administration announced a $300 million federal investment to rebuild more than a dozen aging bridges in eight states and the nation’s capital.
The funds, which will be paid through President Joe Biden‘s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will be used to replace nine bridges in California, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin.
The announcement marks the last stop of a three-week national tour to promote the ongoing impact of the president’s legislative agenda, including the expansion of federal infrastructure projects and electric vehicle manufacturing since he took office.
The tour has traveled to more than 50 cities and towns across 25 states and territories, touting $435 billion in private sector investments, including $40 billion for repairing and replacing bridges.
“This funding will help us fix some of the nation’s most significant bridges and at least 15,000 smaller bridges across the country,” the White House said in a statement.
As part of a whirlwind Wednesday, a host of Cabinet officials spoke at several bridge sites nationwide that have been targeted for upgrades.
The bridges include Palm Avenue Overcrossing Bridge in San Diego; Lafayette Avenue Bascule Bridge in Bay City, Mich.; the U.S. 59 San Antonio River Bridge in San Antonio, Texas; and Burgard Bridge in Portland, Ore.
On Thursday afternoon, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C.,
And Transportation Secretary Buttigieg made an appearance in upstate New York to tout work on Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge near Albany.
White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu also announced $15 million in funds to replace a series of six bridges in Madison, Wis.
Officials also fanned out to other communities to announce additional grant funds.
The improvements are expected to reduce traffic delays and help ease supply chain issues nationwide.
The bridge projects were desperately needed as each crumbling bridge was unsafely serving tens of thousands of travelers per day, the White House said.
At least 43,000 bridges exist in poor condition across the country, the White House said.
The federally funded projects will create hundreds of new construction jobs in addition to those already created for more than 4,600 bridge repair projects nationwide, the White House said.