Ferries in Alaska. Rail in Oregon. States Dream Big on Infrastructure Funds.
The New York Times
The infrastructure bill could reshape priorities across the country, jump-starting critical projects that stalled over funding. These are some of the possibilities.
WASHINGTON — In the Pacific Northwest, the aging Interstate 5 bridge, a main artery between Oregon and Washington, is at risk of collapsing in a major earthquake. Across Appalachia, abandoned coal mines leaking toxic pollutants are a threat to public health. And along the Gulf Coast, states like Louisiana are forced to consider novel evacuation routes to ease traffic on inland highways that often become clogged before powerful hurricanes.
Proposed solutions to these challenges, and others across the country, have come into focus for state leaders and transit officials as the House is poised to take up a sprawling $1 trillion infrastructure package whose future is increasingly uncertain.
For years, officials have been forced to balance an overwhelming backlog of repairs and upgrades to highways, bridges and roads against more sweeping, longer-term projects. But an infusion of nearly $600 billion in new federal aid could change that calculus as states are freed to consider more ambitious ideas that align with President Biden’s vision for a generational overhaul of the country’s aging public works system.
