WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (both D-Ill.) on Wednesday introduced legislation to create a $1.5 billion grant program to fund bridge repair, maintenance, and replacement on commuter rail lines.
The Building Rail Infrastructure for a Durable and Growing Economy (BRIDGE) Act would use funds from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund for a program to provide $1.5 billion annually in fiscal years 2027 to 2031. The program would be administered by the Federal Transit Administration.
In announcing the bill, Duckworth highlighted the more than 200 bridges on Chicago’s Metra system in need of repair.
“Across Chicago and cities around the country, thousands of commuters rely on rail bridges that are more than a century old — bridges that were never meant to carry today’s level of traffic, Duckworth said in a press release. “This legislation is about more than just bringing our infrastructure into this century — it’s about protecting safety, growing our economy and making it easier for people and goods to get where they need to go.”
Said Quigley, a member of the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee: “Too many of the bridges on our commuter rail system, and other systems across the country, rely on are in desperate need of repair. Yet there is no dedicated federal program to address their condition. The BRIDGE Act closes that gap by creating a reliable source of funding to modernize commuter rail bridges, improve safety, and ensure these systems can serve riders efficiently for decades to come.”
Metra has endorsed the bill, as have the American Council of Engineering Companies, Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, and International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD).
“The BRIDGE Act represents a critical investment in the long-term safety and reliability of our region’s commuter rail system,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Jim Derwinski, “and will deliver urgently needed resources for bridge replacement and rehabilitation, ensuring commuter rail remains a safe, reliable, and efficient transportation option for generations to come.”
The full text of the bill is available here.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
Sadly, and I say this as an engineering consultant, I read this to say “$1.2Billion in consulting fees for $300Million in construction to partially replace three bridges that were built in 1902 for $85,000.”
But hey, it is better than nothing…
Bridges used by METRA trains (and other commuter systems) need repair or replacement. Therefore, fund from Washington, where pretend money is printed, rather than from state and local budgets, where actual taxes paid in actual money have to be actually raised.
That’s how the game is played, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, amen. We all know it (voters and office holders of both parties), and nothing will be done to change it. Hey, it works for me, big time. I can buy a $10.00 METRA ticket when the actual cost of the ride provided for me is way more than that. The difference is made up, in part, by federal deficit spending that will continue apace for the remaining years of my life.