U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) announces legislation that will put $300 billion toward roads and bridges across the country – a sore issue with Saline County and Arkansas residents these days.
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) unanimously passed a landmark surface transportation reauthorization bill to invest over $300 billion to repair and modernize roads and bridges, and which includes several priorities advanced by committee member U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR).
“Infrastructure is a bipartisan issue because Americans everywhere understand we must to be able to move people and goods efficiently throughout our country. The EPW Committee continues to build on this consensus and has again adopted legislation that seeks to upgrade our country’s transportation infrastructure,” Boozman said.
The Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021 sets a new baseline funding level of over $300 billion for U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) programs for highways, roads and bridges. This marks an increase of more than 34% from the last reauthorization to pass Congress, the FAST Act, in 2015.
The prior authorization for surface transportation programs expired in 2020. Congress passed a one-year extension that will expire on September 30, 2021.
Boozman’s team states he secured the following provisions for the bill:
• Establishing a competitive grant program to assist the repair and replacement of deficient and outdated bridges and ease the national bridge repair backlog.
• Restoration of flexibility for Highway Safety Improvement Program funds to better protect motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
• Safety improvement at railway-highway grade crossings, including funding for reducing pedestrian fatalities and injuries.
• Speeding up projects by spurring completion of DOT environmental impact statements and requiring accountability when deadlines are missed, and requiring the Secretary of Transportation to limit repetitive work zone process reviews.
• Minimizing unnecessary delays and paperwork burdens for low-risk and exempt intelligent transportation system projects.
Boozman office states that he has consistently called for wise, effective investment in core physical infrastructure projects to repair and rebuild roads, highways and bridges in Arkansas and across the country.