Biden administration announces new infrastructure grants for America’s largest bridges

President Biden and his top lieutenants fanned out across the country Wednesday to visit bridges that are set to be repaired with new infrastructure money.

The president stopped Wednesday afternoon at the Brent Spence Bridge, which crosses the Ohio River connecting Kentucky and Ohio and had fallen on hard times in recent years. The event touting an infusion of repair money is also notable because Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was also in attendance.

The focus from the White House and Senate GOP leadership on areas of bipartisan cooperation is a marked contrast to the chaos in the House of Representatives which, in its second day of GOP control, is still struggling to elect a Speaker.

"I wanted to start off the new year at this historic project here in Ohio and Kentucky with a bipartisan group of officials because I believe it sends an important message to the entire country: We can work together," Biden said Wednesday during his remarks.

"This bridge symbolizes the coming together of both sides," McConnell added during his remarks, saying he was proud to be there. In addition to the GOP leader, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), just-retired Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), and the governors of both Ohio and Kentucky also appeared with President Biden.

$40 billion for bridges

The 2021 infrastructure law puts aside $110 billion for roads and bridges over the coming years as part of the $550 billion in total new spending on issues like airports, rural broadband, ports, and other items.

This week's visits coincided with the announcement that approximately $2.1 billion of that money will be set aside for repairs in the “Large Bridge” program, which includes the Brent Spence Bridge and three others that the administration describes as some of America’s most economically significant spans.

On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris visited four drawbridges in the South Side of Chicago near Illinois’s International Port, while Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the Gold Star Memorial Bridge in New London, Conn.