During a visit to Rhode Island this week to discuss the I-95 Washington Bridge, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg addressed the funding needed to initiate work to replace Massachusetts' Sagamore Bridge.
“I can’t speak to anything that might be coming down the line,” Buttigieg told WPRI 12 News. “But we’re fully aware of how much of a concern this is.”
His comments came as Massachusetts leaders make a full court press to secure a $1.07 billion federal grant to replace the Sagamore through the Bridge Investment Program. A decision is expected as soon as next month.
Congress earmarked $350 million in the recently enacted appropriations bill for the Sagamore rebuild, on top of a $372 million Mega grant that Buttigieg’s department awarded late in December. He noted that the Mega grant program was created by the bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Biden in 2021.
“There are cases like this around the country where you’ve got something that on one hand has to get done and on the other hand has not been possible because the funding hasn’t been there,” Buttigieg told WPRI 12 News.
“It’s one of the reasons why President Biden pushed so hard to get this infrastructure plan through,” he told WPRI 12 News. “Now we’re putting it to work to try to address those backlogs and those needs that have been building up over so many decades.”
The cost of replacing the Sagamore is estimated at $2.14 billion. The state has agreed to kick in $700 million toward the cost.
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Source: WPRI 12 News
