Funds acquired for New Mississipi Bridge
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Printable FormatEDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER
Norma Mendoza
U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello announced recently that he was able to secure $150 million in funding for the New Mississippi River Bridge in the bill to reauthorize transportation programs in the nation.
Funding for the new bridge will total $240 million with Senators Dick Durbin, Barack Obama and Kit Bond securing the additional $90 million, Costello's office reported.
Costello included the funding in the section of the legislation for projects of regional and national significance, or "mega-projects."
"This was a great effort by the bi-state delegation to secure a significant amount of money for the new bridge," said Costello, a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "Our original goal was $350 million over six years, which is the maximum amount of money the Illinois and Missouri Departments of Transportation could spend over that period of time. The bill runs through 2009 - five years including this fiscal year, which ends on September 30 - so on a per-year basis we did very well. I want to thank the entire bi-state delegation for their work on behalf of the new bridge."
The Illinois and Missouri departments of transportation said this week that they are seeking ways to pare down the estimated $1.6 billion cost of the new bridge in order to be able to build it in a shorter period of time.
IDOT and MODOT announced a reevaluation project on Monday and have selected the URS Corporation to complete it by early next year at an estimated cost of $2.5 million.
In the U.S. House version of the transportation bill, $6 billion was set aside for mega-projects, but the Senate bill had no such provision, Costello stated. In the final version, the $6 billion was split between the Hoiuse and Senate, with $3 billion retained by the House for mega-projects. It was out of this section that Costello was able to secure the $150 million for the bridge.
In addition to this funding for the New Mississippi River Bridge, the amount of funding for Illinois highways will be increased by $309.15 million a year or about 33.4 percent more per year over the current level of funding for highway projects in the state. Costello's office said this substantial increase will enable the Illinois Department of Transportation to address critical road and bridge projects in the state.