Casey, Lehigh Valley Leaders Push for Long Term Transportation Bill that Will Upgrade Region's Roads and Bridges

With Pennsylvania leading the nation in structurally deficient bridges, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), joined by Lehigh Valley leaders pushed for a long term transportation bill that will upgrade the nation's roads and bridges. Casey also pushed to include a measure in the legislation that would increase funding for chronically underfunded bridges owned by counties and municipalities- so called "off-system' bridges. At a bridge that could receive funding under a long term transportation bill, Casey and officials from across the region called for the investment. Casey's bridge proposal is modeled after a previous effort that became law and invested over $70 million per year in bridges owned by counties and municipalities in Pennsylvania during fiscal years 2013 and 2014.

"A long term transportation bill will give communities the certainty they need to invest and plan substantial infrastructure projects," Senator Casey said. "Investing in our nation's roads and bridges will create jobs and make critical safety upgrades that in some cases are long overdue."

Off-system bridges, bridges owned by counties or municipalities, were initially excluded from the federal National Highway System and thus from receiving federal funding. In 2013 these bridges received a reprieve from the federal funding cut-off because of a Casey provision in an appropriations bill that made bridges owned by counties and municipalities eligible. This effort resulted in $74M in bridge repair for Pennsylvania in FY 2013 and FY 2014. The bill Casey will discuss will make his previous provision permanent law thereby restoring the funding for these aging bridges and restore federal funding for bridges regardless of their designation. The proposal has received strong bipartisan support in the past. There are over 590,000 bridges in the United States, and more than fifty percent are off-system. Pennsylvania leads the country in structurally deficient bridges currently with 5,543 out of 22,667 total bridges being classified as structurally deficient. This translates to over 19 million daily trips taken over structurally deficient bridges.

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