Senator Dick Durbin is urging Congress to pass a long-term transportation plan. He used a bridge in Rockford to illustrate a problem plaguing the nation. Durbin and Rockford-area lawmakers held a news conference Monday under the Jefferson Street Bridge while it was getting some much-needed repairs.
The money to fix the concrete bridge supports is coming from the city of Rockford…not the federal government, not the state government. Senator Durbin says the House needs to pass the Senate’s 6 year transportation bill because important infrastructure projects are being delayed nationwide. He says an increasing number of states are backing off from highway construction because they can't be certain the federal government is going to pay its share.
Rockford mayor Larry Morrissey says the US is falling behind Europe and Asia in some very important areas. He says it's been very clear during his recent trips to China: "...it's really embarrassing coming back home and seeing the level of neglect we've left much of our infrastructure in when a country like China is moving forward. And they're doing it because they are making common sense investments in public infrastructure."
The House hasn’t take up the Senate’s long-term transportation bill. Instead, it has been passing stop-gap measures to fund the most critical projects.
