Some of America’s infrastructure is getting a much-needed makeover.
The White House has promised to work on rebuilding bridges and roads, focusing on those connecting historically segregated Black and brown communities. This is thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in late 2021.
Mitch Landrieu, a Biden senior adviser, is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the law, creating millions of jobs.
The projects funded up and down the East Coast, from northeast to midwest, and on the west, will “connect communities, especially communities of color, to economic opportunity, and of course, improve folks’ lives in a big way,” Landrieu says, according to the Grio.
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden visited Covington, Kentucky, and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Chicago to promote the money invested in prominent infrastructure projects. One of those projects will be working on one of the four bridges crossing the Calumet River. The bridges give crucial access to marine traffic to and from the Illinois International Port and surrounding industry. Making remarks
in front of the 95th Street Bridge, the Harris noted both Chicago and Northwest Indiana natives cross the bridge each day.While in Kentucky, Biden boasted about making serious dents in the economy and his plans to continue making positive strides with these infrastructure efforts. “You can’t have the best economy in the world without having the best infrastructure.” He added, “For years, people talked about this problem, but now I am proud to say we will finally fix this problem.” It looks like the Biden-Harris administration is keeping its word, but some experts feel otherwise.
According to the
White House, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $40 billion to repair and rebuild the nation’s bridges – the single largest dedicated investment in bridges since the construction of the Eisenhower-era Interstate Highway System.The Biden team is also open to build relationships with universities, and community and technical colleges.
“We’re paying particular attention to making sure that communities don’t get left behind,” Landrieu says.