Monday, July 07, 2014YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Congress returns to work tomorrow and topping the political agenda is replenishing the Highway Trust Fund, which funds road construction projects but will be insolvent by late August if action is not taken.
Thus this morning’s news conference by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, at the site of the $6 million project at U.S. Route 224 and Interstate 680, the biggest traffic tie-up in Mahoning County, to rally local support for what his office terms a “bipartisan approach to fixing America’s highways and bridges by passing a long-term transportation bill.”
Joining Brown at the press event will be John Getchey, executive director of the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, and Donald Crane, president of the Western Reserve Building Trades Council.
“The Mahoning Valley is home to 122 structurally deficient bridges, among the most in Ohio,” the senator says. “An estimated $1.4 billion in federal funding for Ohio roads and bridges is at risk if the Highway Bill is not extended.”
A spreadsheet compiled by the Federal Highway Administration finds 33 of Mahoning County’s 354 bridges are “structurally deficient,” or 9%. In Trumbull County, 68 of its 400 bridges, or 17%, are deemed structurally deficient. In Columbiana County, 6.5% are deficient, or 21 of the county’s 325 bridges.
Statewide 2,242 bridges are in need of immediate repair, according to the data. Specific spans are not identified in the FHA compilation, nor does it define what criteria classifies a bridge as "structurally deficient."
Funding for highway projects will slide into insolvency ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline for extending the current law, which could result in delays in completing the U.S. 224/I-680 project, Brown warns.
Should Congress fail to act, some 700,000 construction jobs would be at risk, according to the Obama Administration.
On July 1, President Obama used the Francis Scott Key Bridge that crosses the Potomac River, named for the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” as his backdrop to campaign for “economic patriotism” and urge immediate action.
National news organizations report bipartisan negotiations are underway in both houses of Congress to replenish the Highway Trust Fund, and are likely to continue tomorrow when the July 4th recess ends.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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