OPINION:
If you want to understand the importance of local input of on infrastructure funding in America, look no further than the bridges across Northeastern Pennsylvania, from major crossings like the Water Street Bridge in Pittston to small county bridges in Wayne and Pike counties. About one-fourth of the bridges in our region are considered structurally deficient, but every one of them is essential to the communities that depend on them every day.
Bridges connect people to their jobs, children to their schools, farmers to their markets, and families to hospitals and emergency services. These structures rarely make national headlines, but they are essential to everyday life. When a bridge falls into disrepair or is forced to close, the consequences ripple through an entire community.
That is why I introduced the Bridges and Safety Infrastructure for Community Success Act with my colleague, Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Mich.
Our bipartisan legislation focuses on small communities and the belief that they should not be left behind when it comes to infrastructure investment.
Across the country, thousands of locally owned bridges are aging faster than communities can afford to repair them. Many of these bridges are in rural areas and small towns, where the local tax base is limited and the cost of replacement can far exceed what a township or county can reasonably cover on its own.
In places like Northeastern Pennsylvania, local governments often face difficult choices. When funding is scarce, communities may be forced to postpone needed repairs or place weight restrictions on bridges that school buses and emergency vehicles rely on every day. In some cases, bridges are closed entirely, forcing residents to travel miles out of their way simply to reach work, school, or medical care.
For small communities, those extra miles add up quickly. Detours increase transportation costs for local businesses, delay emergency response times, disrupt daily traffic patterns and place additional strain on already limited local infrastructure.
This problem is not unique to Pennsylvania. Rural communities across America are facing the same challenge, critical infrastructure aging faster than it can be replaced.
The Bridges and Safety Infrastructure for Community Success Act helps address this challenge by improving federal support for repairing and replacing locally owned bridges in smaller communities. It helps ensure small, midsized and rural communities receive their fair share of infrastructure investment and gives local leaders the tools they need to deliver real results.
When infrastructure is strong, communities are safer. Every day, school buses, ambulances, fire trucks and law enforcement vehicles depend on these structures. Keeping bridges safe and accessible is not just a transportation issue, it is a matter of public safety.
Strong infrastructure also powers local economies. Businesses can move goods efficiently, farmers can bring products to market and workers can commute safely and reliably. Investments in infrastructure also help attract new economic development to communities that might otherwise struggle to compete.
Too often in Washington, infrastructure debates focus on large projects in major metropolitan areas. Those investments matter, but they cannot come at the expense of the small towns and rural communities that make up so much of our country.
Americans who live in smaller communities pay federal taxes just like everyone else. They deserve infrastructure that works just as well.
That is why this legislation is bipartisan. Whether a bridge is in Pennsylvania, Michigan or anywhere else in the country, the need for safe and reliable infrastructure is universal.
My district in Northeastern Pennsylvania is home to many communities that rely on bridges built decades ago. Local officials are doing everything they can to maintain them, but the scale of the challenge often exceeds what small municipalities can manage alone.
The federal government has a responsibility to ensure infrastructure investments reach every corner of the country, not just the largest cities.
Small towns help power America’s economy. They grow our food, manufacture essential goods, and sustain industries that keep our nation moving forward. They deserve infrastructure that supports their future.
Safe bridges should not be a privilege for big cities. They should be a promise we keep to every community in America.
• Rep. Rob Bresnahan represents Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District. He’s a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where he is vice chair of the subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.