Crumbling Ohio Bridges Finally Getting Repaired

OHIO — About 15,000 bridges in poor condition, including 1,377 in Ohio, are targeted for repair and improvement under a five-year, $27 billion program announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The administration is releasing nearly $5.5 billion to states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and tribes this fiscal year to fund the program, which the administration said is “the single largest dedicated bridge investment” since the interstate highway system was authorized in the 1950s.

Ohio will receive a total of $96.7 million in the current fiscal year and $483.3 million over five years.

Bridges in Ohio listed in poor condition include:

• The I-90 bridge over the Rocky River Valley in Cuyahoga County
• The I-90 bridge over E. 152nd in Cuyahoga County
• The I-77 bridge over Market Cleveland & 15th in Stark County

The funds earmarked by the Transportation Department cover only about a third of the 45,000 bridges nationwide identified as in poor condition in the $1 trillion infrastructure plan President Joe Biden signed into law in November. It authorized nearly $40 billion for repairs and upgrades.

The Transportation Department did not immediately return Patch’s email and phone call for clarification on whether funding will be authorized for the other 30,000 U.S. bridges in poor condition.

States receive the money according to a needs-based formula, and state transportation departments will decide how the money is used, whether for major highway bridges that are part of the federal highway system or bridges under local jurisdictions, according to reports from ABC News and others.

The states are being notified how much they’ll receive over five years for planning purposes, the report said.

The funding in the infrastructure plan promised to reach almost every corner of the country with money earmarked for bridges, ports, rail transit, safe water, the power grid, broadband internet and other critical infrastructure.

The White House issued a fact sheet Friday detailing how the administration is distributing infrastructure funds 60 days after the plan was approved.