KCAL 9: California Will Get $4.2 Billion From Infrastructure Law Funds To Repair, Upgrade Bridges
By CBSLA Staff
Earthquake-prone California is getting billions of dollars to help renovate and upgrade its bridges.
The White House on Friday earmarked $26.5 billion from last year’s infrastructure bill to fix the nation’s 15,000 crumbling bridges to help move goods across the country more efficiently and help ease the ongoing supply-chain crisis.
“Bridges are vital arteries for our economic activity, helping commuters get to work and keeping goods moving efficiently through the supply chain,” California Sen. Alex Padilla said in a statement.
California, which the U.S. Department of Transportation says has 1,536 bridges rated in poor condition, will get $4.2 billion of those funds over five years.
“California has more than 1,500 bridges that are in desperate need of repair,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said in a statement. “This funding will go a long way to increase the safety, stability and lifespan of our state’s bridges, especially in the face of earthquakes.”
The Biden Administration is working to improve the nation’s infrastructure in an effort to accelerate recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week, $1.24 billion from the $30 billion American Rescue Plan was awarded to Los Angeles’ Metro system to protect transit employees from layoffs and help keep service going uninterrupted for the county’s 12 million residents.
Read the full article here.