Washington, D.C. -- Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), issued the following statement calling on lawmakers of both parties to come together behind a 6-year transportation bill after the collapse of a bridge on Interstate 10, the main roadway that links Southern California and Arizona. One driver was injured and hundreds of motorists were stranded when the Tex Wash bridge collapsed Sunday afternoon during heavy rains.
“How many more bridges have to collapse before we come together and pass a 6-year, robust transportation bill?” Senator Boxer said. “Instead of another short-term extension, we need to work together, as Democrats and Republicans, to enact legislation that will repair our deficient bridges, highways and transportation systems.”
Senator Boxer is working with colleagues of both parties to negotiate a new transportation bill, with the current Highway Trust Fund extension set to expire July 31st. She joined with Senator Inhofe to introduce the DRIVE Act, a six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill that was unanimously voted out of the EPW Committee on June 24.
There are currently 61,300 structurally deficient bridges in the United States, and 50 percent of our roads are in less than good condition.
###