Vice President Kamala Harris touts bridge funding in Chicago: ‘We will finally fix this problem’

With a very literal backdrop of the 95th Street Bridge on the Southeast Side, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Chicago Wednesday to tout the impact of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, which includes a $144 million grant to rehab four bridges along the Calumet River.

Harris’ trip to Illinois — her sixth since taking office — came as President Joe Biden visited the Brent Spence Bridge in Kentucky and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to Connecticut to visit the Gold Star Bridge, part of an effort to highlight how the administration is growing the economy and making an impact on communities throughout the country.

It was also an effort to highlight bipartisanship in a newly divided Congress, as Biden thanked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his role in passing the massive infrastructure plan.

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“After two years in office, I can say with confidence, we are building that better future,” Harris said in her speech at Crowley’s Yacht Yard. “We are building an economy, as President Biden often puts it, from the bottom up and the middle out. And I’ll add from the outside in.”

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The grant of $144 million through the bipartisan infrastructure law will rehabilitate the 92nd Street, 95th Street, 100th Street and 106th Street bridges along the Calumet River.

Harris said the 95th Street Bridge, built in 1958, hasn’t had major repairs in decades — causing detours and delays, raising delivery costs and disrupting supply chains, all of which trickle down to families, small businesses and workers.

“The consequences of infrastructure underinvestment have been a familiar story in cities and states across our nation,” Harris said. “About 43,000 bridges, almost one in 10, show signs of severe distress in our country. And, you know, for years, people talked about this problem, but now I am proud to say we will finally fix this problem.”

The funding is part of more than $2 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law that will be used to upgrade economically significant bridges across the country, the White House said.

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The infrastructure law invested $40 billion to repair and rebuild the country’s bridges, which the White House called the single largest dedicated investment in bridges since the construction of the Eisenhower-era interstate highway system.

“Rehabilitating these bridges will undoubtedly reap massive, local, regional and national benefits, as well as reinforce our city’s many competitive advantages, including our centrality, proximity to critical resources like fresh water, and, of course, an unmatched talent pool,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at the event. “And did I mention? This means, jobs, jobs, jobs.”

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle also attended the event.

The vice president also took a couple of minutes to visit the nearby Calumet Fisheries, a well-known and beloved smoked seafood stop along the river. She picked up two bags of food, including smoked salmon and trout, and told a Calumet Fisheries employee that trout was her husband’s favorite.