[1/2] US President Barack Obama speaks in front of the dilapidated Brent Spence Bridge during a visit to Cincinnati, Ohio September 22, 2011. REUTERS/John Sommers II
WASHINGTON, Jan 1 (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden will join Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at an event in Kentucky on Wednesday aimed at highlighting the effects of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill in 2021, an official said on Sunday. from the White House.
The pair, along with Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, must appear at a ceremony highlighting the $1.64 billion in funding awarded to for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project connecting the two states across the Ohio River.
Funding for the crossing includes a new bridge and rehabilitation of the heavily congested 60-year-old.
The new bridge is intended to rehabilitate a heavily congested 60-year-old span and add a second crossing.
McConnell, of Kentucky, was among the Republicans who voted for the infrastructure law, which was approved in November 2021, while many House Republicans including Representative Kevin McCarthy opposed it.
McConnell said last week in a statement that “building a new companion bridge on the Brent Spence Bridge corridor will be one of the crowning achievements of the bill.”
The event must happen the day after McCarthy’s Republicans take the majority in the House, breaking the control of Democrats of the Congress and introducing a period of divided government.
Kentucky and Ohio have sought funding for the project for years.
“This project will not only alleviate the traffic nightmare that drivers have suffered for years, but it will also help ensure that the movement of the supply chain does not come to a halt on this nationally important corridor,” DeWine said.
Then-President Barack Obama visited the crossing in 2011 and urged Congress to pass a multibillion-dollar jobs bill that he said could include rebuilding the bridge, which by then had already been declared functionally obsolete.
During his 2016 run for the White House, Donald Trump supported funding for the project, but he has failed during his four years in office to secure money for it or pass the big infrastructure bill he has repeatedly promised.
The 2021 infrastructure law includes $27 billion over five years to repair and replace thousands of aging U.S. bridges.
Other administration officials including Vice President Kamala Harris will also promote infrastructure awards at other events this week.
(This story has been refiled to add a dropped word in paragraph five)
Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bradley Perrett
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