North Carolina is ranked as the 8th worst state in the country for bad bridges, with 17 percent listed as functionally obsolete and another 12 percent considered structurally deficient, and many of them are in the Charlotte area. With thousands of bridges needing repair or replacement, lawmakers are trying to figure out how to pay for it, wsoctv.com reports. Fifteen bridges in Mecklenburg County alone are in need of repair, and one of worst is the Interstate 277 bridge over Brevard Street.
The new Trump administration has proposed spending a trillion dollars on infrastructure projects, and Democrats reportedly want to work with the administration, as the work is expected to create 15 million jobs. When the House Transportation Committee met on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, the chair told the news agency that they want to target existing bridges before building new ones.
“We’re not about doing all kinds of new roads, we’re about the system we have today,” Congressman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) told the news agency. “Let’s fix it, make sure it’s in good repair.”
With funding being the main issue, the committee is considering new user fees on roads and airports, or increasing the gas tax, while President Trump has mentioned public/private partnerships.
