The Biden administration’s investments in the nation’s crumbling bridges expire Wednesday, leaving thousands of communities across the country in the lurch.
Nearly $37 billion in annual transportation funding expires on Sept. 30, after Congress did not renew the funding alongside the stopgap transportation bills earlier this year. The lapsed programs include the Bridge Formula Program, which received $27.5 billion over five years to help states fund bridge replacements.
Without the promise of that money, states are pumping the brakes on awarding government contracts for long-term infrastructure projects, industry advocates say.
“Every time I raise it in meetings, a lot of heads nod among transportation firms sitting around the room,” said Steve Hall, the executive vice president of the American Council of Engineering Companies, which represents thousands of companies.
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More than 41,000 bridges across the U.S. are rated in “poor” condition, according to data released by the Federal Highway Administration in August. States, manufacturers and builders who would otherwise be planning long-term infrastructure projects and investments into material and equipment are no longer certain about their investments.
The lapsed funding goes beyond bridges. Biden-era programs to fund upgrades to the country’s aging rail system and invest in public transit will also be out of funding when this fiscal year runs out. Because these time-limited programs received special funding outside the typical annual appropriations process, they were not extended through the stopgap bills.
State transportation departments currently drafting 5- or 10-year transportation improvement plans won’t account for money they aren’t promised by Congress, said Deniz Mustafa, the senior director of construction advocacy at the Associated General Contractors of America.
“They’re just going to reduce how many different types of projects that they have in their transportation improvement plans… which essentially means less projects to bid on for contractors because the funding source for all of them is not certain,” Mustafa said. “We’ve heard from a variety of different state DOTs that have reduced their lettings or their planned amount that they’re planning to spend or projects let out to bid because of that funding uncertainty.”
Lawmakers on the Hill indicated that renewing funding for the Bridge Formula Program is still on the table post-midterms, though concrete plans haven’t taken shape.
Reps. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pennsylvania) and Salud Carbajal (D-California) led a Problem Solvers Caucus letter in August in part calling for advanced appropriations like the bridge and railway repairs programs to receive funding in the next fiscal year.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed a 5-year surface transportation reauthorization bill in May with overwhelming support. It includes $45 billion over five years for bridges, an increase from the 2021 law.
The bill hasn’t reached the House floor, however, and the Senate doesn’t have a bill of its own yet.
“There’s still conversation. There’s still opportunity. Just a matter of what we can actually get into the end. A lot of other states have a lot of other priorities that we’re trying to push in, so hopefully we’ll be able to come to some agreement,” Sen. Andy Kim (D-New Jersey) said. New Jersey received $1.23 billion from the program, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
Senators leading the effort have blamed their lack of progress on the difficulties of negotiating within each of the four committees it must pass, leaving advocates cautiously optimistic about a breakthrough this year.
“The calendar is tough, and if it doesn’t happen in the lame duck, we’re probably looking at another extension, duration to be determined,” said Susan Howard, the policy director at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
For his part, Kim is already contingency-planning. Last week, he said he is working with New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill to identify New Jersey’s infrastructure vulnerabilities and plan for the funding loss.
States have other means of paying for unexpected infrastructure repairs. The Federal Highway Administration operates an emergency relief program to cover disaster-related expenses, and states still have access to funds already committed for the fiscal year.
That doesn’t do much to relieve advocates’ concerns about losing the total funding for advanced appropriations if Congress excludes them from an eventual fiscal year 2027 transportation spending bill.
“You cannot repair these 40,000 plus bridges without funding them,” said Nick Rhoad, president and CEO of the National Precast Concrete Association, which represents companies that manufacture materials for bridges and highways.
“This was not an unexpected emergency,” Rhoad added. “(Congress) knew the reauthorization and funding schedule. They knew when it ended, and they still left the work unfinished.”
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