February 18th, 2016 by WCBC Radio
According to a report released today by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) 58,495 of the nation’s bridges are structurally deficient, including 5,313 in Maryland. Nationwide, nearly 10% of the nation’s bridges are in need of repair. One of the busiest structurally deficient bridges in the country is the I-695/U.S. 1 bridge in Baltimore, which handles 193,000 crossings a day. Congressman John K. Delaney (MD-6), author of bipartisan legislation to rebuild America’s infrastructure using revenues from overseas corporate profits, called the report troubling.
“The dire state of America’s bridges is another troubling chapter in the story of our aging and cracked infrastructure,” said Congressman Delaney. “As highlighted in ARTBA’s report, this is a nationwide problem and Maryland is no exception. We should view this as a public safety crisis that demands a response. Last fall we passed a weak Highway Bill that merely maintained current levels of investment in infrastructure; this will not solve our long-term problems and ensure that America’s bridges are safe. Combining infrastructure investment with international tax reform is a triple bottom line for the country, creating millions of good-paying jobs, improving our economic climate and making our roads and bridges safer – the support that’s bubbled up around my legislation shows that we can get this done. This should be a priority in 2016.”
Congressman Delaney’s bipartisan Infrastructure 2.0 Act (H.R. 625) uses revenues from international tax reform to fund a six-year highway bill at increased levels and creates a new American Infrastructure Fund to finance additional state and local projects. Under Delaney’s legislation, the American Infrastructure Fund could finance up to $750 billion in new infrastructure projects. Delaney’s leadership in building support for using revenues from international tax reform to rebuild America’s infrastructure has been cited by the Washington Post and the New York Times.
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