Davids Secures $225 Million to Repair Aging Bridges in Kansas, the Largest Investment Ever

Today, Representative Sharice Davids announced that Kansas will receive $225 million over five years from the bipartisan infrastructure law to repair and modernize bridges, creating good-paying jobs for Kansans across the state. This marks the launch of the largest bridge formula program in American history, made possible by the bipartisan infrastructure law, which Davids helped lead to passage through her role as Vice Chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

With this new federal funding, the Kansas Department of Transportation and local governments can begin to address the 732 bridges in need of repairs in the Kansas Third District, which Davids identified in her "State of our Systems: Bridges" report last year. The report also found that of the 16 million daily bridge crossings in the Third District, 13 million are on bridges that have suggested repair work.

"Six of the top 10 most traveled structurally deficient bridges in Kansas are in the Third District. With this new funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law, we can begin to clear the backlog of repairs and ensure that all our bridges are safe and sound for years to come," said Davids. "It also means we can put 30,000 construction workers on the job in the Kansas City area, creating a stronger economy for all of us."

"Kansas bridges connect communities, deliver goods to market and often provide the most direct routes for emergency responders. With more than 1,300 Kansas bridges in poor condition, we are grateful for the opportunity to work with Kansans to reduce the backlog of state, city and county bridges in need of repair, maximize these dollars, and deliver long-term improvements to our transportation system," said Kansas Department of Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz.

"Our workers and the communities we serve have been asking for years for help to fix up our bridges and roads. Now, thanks to Rep. Davids and the new infrastructure law, help is here. Today's announcement is another opportunity to get folks back to work and providing for their families, all while we improve the safety and efficiency of bridges in our area," said Mike Kane, LiUNA Local 1290 Public Affairs Director.

The funds are administered by the Federal Highway Administration and can be used to replace, rehabilitate, preserve, protect, and construct highway bridges across Kansas. In FY2022, Kansas will receive $45 million in bridge formula program funding—the first of five years of funding authorized by the new infrastructure law. In addition to this new program, Davids announced last month that Kansas received over $500 million for existing federal highway and bridge programs thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure law.

Nationwide, the Bridge Formula Program is expected to help repair approximately 15,000 bridges. In addition to providing funds to states, the program has dedicated funding for Tribal transportation facility bridges as well as "off-system" bridges (locally owned facilities which are those not on the federal-aid highway system).

Davids previously announced the bipartisan infrastructure law is bringing more than $13 million for airports in the Third District and $79 million for water infrastructure across Kansas in fiscal year 2022.