Crumbling FL Bridges Finally Getting Repaired

FLORIDA — About 15,000 bridges in poor condition, including 408 in Florida, 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.

Florida will receive a total of $49 million in the current fiscal year and $244.9 million over five years. Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the Biden administration for sending more money to New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, which have fewer residents.

The formula used to calculate the amount given to states penalizes Florida for maintaining its roads, the governor said in a statement.

“The Biden Administration continues to punish states that are succeeding,” DeSantis said in a news release. “Despite obstacles created by the Biden Administration, the State of Florida continues to thrive and foster an environment that draws new residents and tourists every single day. By doing so, Florida has continued to grow, and our infrastructure must be able to keep up the pace. The Biden Administration though is short-changing Florida yet again.”

Bridges in Florida listed in poor condition include:

• Miami-Dade: Built in 1943; 34,503 daily crossings; Sw 42nd Avenue over Coral Gables Canal
• Pinellas County: Built in 1961; 33,500 daily crossings; 40th Avenue NE over Placido Bayou
• Sarasota: Built in 1990; 24,000 daily crossings; Tuttle Ave. over Phillippi Creek

The state's bridge inventory is described as:

• Of the 5,430 bridges in the state, 273, or 5.0 percent, are classified as structurally deficient. This means one of the key elements is in poor or worse condition.
• This is down from 297 bridges classified as structurally deficient in 2016.
• The deck area of structurally deficient bridges accounts for 3.5 percent of total deck area on all structures.
• 12 of the structurally deficient bridges are on the Interstate Highway System. A total of 85.7 percent of the structurally deficient bridges are not on the National Highway System, which includes the Interstate and other key roads linking major airports, ports, rail and truck terminals.
• 456 bridges are posted for load, which may restrict the size and weight of vehicles crossing the structure.
• The state has identified needed repairs on 1,619 bridges at an estimated cost of $4.9 billion.
• This compares to 1,677 bridges that needed work in 2016.

The money 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.

Nancy Singer, a spokeswoman from the Federal Highway Commission, told Patch the $27 billion is authorized under the dedicated Bridge Formula Program to replace or repair highway bridges. It is not the only pot of money available to states to fix bridges.

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, Singer said.

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.