Gillibrand Announces, After Her Push, New Measure to Give States the Authority to Use More Federal Funds on Local Bridge Improvement Projects was Passed by Congress Last Night, Will Head to President's Desk to Become Law

Press Release

With more than one-in-three New York bridges in need of repair, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that after her push, a new measure she introduced in June that would give states the authority to use more federal funds on local bridge improvement projects was included in the final federal transportation bill that Congress passed last night. Senator Gillibrand's measure will now go to the President's desk to be signed into law.

While 50 percent of New York's 17,000 bridges are locally owned, current federal policy limits the amount of federal transportation funds that states can use to repair those bridges by restricting National Highway Performance Program funding to bridges on the National Highway System. Only one-third of New York's highway bridges are currently on the National Highway System and eligible for National Highway Performance Program funds.

"As hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers take to the roads for the holidays, more than a third of our state's bridges are in need of repair, but bureaucratic federal policy actually prevents our state from investing in repairs for many of these bridges," said Senator Gillibrand. "I'm pleased this new measure I introduced is headed to the President's desk to become law, so that we can finally give states the flexibility to spend federal transportation dollars where they're needed most, including on repairs for thousands of locally owned bridges across the state. I will continue to fight to ensure that New York receives the resources it needs to maintain and improve our critical infrastructure."

Senator Gillibrand's proposal would make all federal-aid highway bridge projects eligible for federal funding through the National Highway Performance Program, which is the largest source of highway formula funds to the states. More than one-third of New York's bridges are graded as either "functionally obsolete," meaning they cannot handle current traffic demand, or "structurally deficient," meaning they require significant maintenance to remain in service and will eventually require a total rehabilitation.

In 2012, a program that provided direct funding to states and local governments to invest in bridge construction and repair was eliminated as a part of a larger transportation funding bill. Senator Gillibrand's measure would redirect existing dollars to restore bridge funding and ensure that states have the flexibility to determine which projects receive federal investment.

According to the New York State Department of Transportation, more than one-third of New York State's 17,000 bridges are in need of repair, with 2,016 graded as structurally deficient and 4,735 graded as functionally obsolete. These designations do not imply that the bridges are unsafe, but rather that they can no longer handle the traffic for which they were designed or are in need of extensive rehabilitation. In order to remain in service, structurally deficient bridges are often posted with weight limits.

In Western New York, there are a total of 2,743 bridges, and of these, 229 are structurally deficient bridges and 465 are functionally obsolete bridges.

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