President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for massive infrastructure spending and his message is being echoed by an Ohio Democrat.
WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair reports that U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown says the place to start is America’s bridges.
Brown made the announcement of his $75 billion Bridge Investment Act this week in front of the historic Center Street bridge in the Cleveland Flats.
“We know in Ohio 6,400 bridges need repairs," says Brown. "We know that some of them are borderline dangerous. We know a lot of those bridges are major structures across major waterways in our cities, and a lot of them are rural bridges in small towns that matter for those communities."
Brown would like to see bridge repair as the first step in a broad infrastructure initiative in Congress.
Ohio has 2,000 “structurally deficient” bridges, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The agency says $123 billion is need to repair bridges across the nation with $30 billion needed in Ohio alone.
Brown says America would look very different if the $1 trillion in infrastructure spending President Trump is pushing is actually passed.
“We’ll have modern rail, we’ll have better housing, particularly for people that rent; we’ll have better bridges, and highways, and water and sewer systems. All of that is good for economic growth. It’s good for people using infrastructure every day getting to and from work, going to the store, and going to the doctor.”
Brown is worried, however, that the $1.5 trillion tax cut recently passed by GOP lawmakers will make it harder to enact an infrastructure package.
