CLEVELAND — U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown and several Cleveland leaders gathered on the east side Friday morning to announce new infrastructure funding for Northeast Ohio.
The money -- nearly $500 million over the next five years -- will go towards renovating and rebuilding bridges across the area and the state. The funds come from the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Brown voted for.
"The infrastructure law includes the greatest and largest investments in roads, bridges, airports, safe drinking water, and broadband networks in generations," Brown said. "In Ohio, there are 1,377 bridges in poor condition. ... The funding I am announcing today is for small and medium-sized bridges like the critical bridges here that line Martin Luther King Drive."
The New Bridge Formula Program will also make it easier to fund city and county-owned bridges, and Ohio will be able to directly fund certain projects. Specifically, Brown will be highlighting the bridge on MLK, which the state has already prioritized for repairs.
"More than 20,000 Clevelanders traverse this bridge each day to work to the hospitals or up the roads to schools," the congresswoman noted. "Yet, it was constructed more than a century ago, and it is in poor condition, according to its latest inspection."
Other politicians joining Brown at today's press conference include:
- Cleveland City Council President Blaine A. Griffin
- Cuyahoga County Council President Pernel Jones Jr.
- Cleveland City Councilman Kevin Conwell
- Cleveland City Councilman Anthony Hairston
- Ohio State Rep. Terrence Upchurch
- David Wondolowski, executive director of the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council
- Lakewood City Council President and Ohio AFL-CIO President Dan O'Malley
"We are excited to have this investment in the city of Cleveland," Griffin said. "We look forward to continuing to work with this bipartisan bill to make sure we assess all of these infrastructure needs that we have through our city and make sure that these dollars go to good use."
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