Federal infrastructure bill helps Iowa

To the Editor,

   So maybe you’ve heard about the project to expand I-380 that was announced this past Thursday. This project will widen parts of I-380 and add one lane in each direction over approximately 5 miles from the Swisher exit to south of Highway 30. The project will also reconfigure the Wright Brother’s Boulevard interchange, which is the primary exit to the Eastern Iowa Airport. The project is expected to cost approximately $140 million. The federal government has allocated at least $57 million for this project.

   In the State of Iowa, there are 4,571 bridges and over 403 miles of highway in poor condition. The federal government has allocated over $1 billion to roads, bridges, roadway safety, and other projects as of March.

   The federal government has also allocated Iowa $60.4 million to improve public transportation options as over a third of the state public transit vehicles are past their useful life.

   The federal government has also awarded the State of Iowa $11.1 million to replace existing school buses with clean and zero emission models to reduce harmful emissions from older buses.

   The federal government also awarded the State of Iowa $4.9 million to improve bus service and clean transit buses.

   The federal government also allocated $51.6 million for replacing and modernizing airport infrastructure and $360.5 million to reduce maintenance backlogs and reduce congestion and emissions in Iowa’s ports and waterways.

   The federal government has also allocated $132 million to provide residents with clean and safe drinking water by replacing some of the 160,000 lead service lines currently in existence in the State of Iowa as well as an additional $28.5 million in safe drinking water investments.

   Iowa will also receive through the federal government at least $100 million to help with high-speed internet access across the state. Iowa also received $18.5 million to build a network of electric vehicle chargers across the state in addition to the $51 million over five years to expand electric vehicle charging.

   The federal government also allocated $70.9 million to the State of Iowa to help the state work against the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events.

   This is just a partial list of the projects being funded by the over $2.4 billion Iowa has received so far under the historic infrastructure bill passed by congress and signed into law by President Biden in 2021. The last large infrastructure bill was passed in 2015 under President Obama, and before that, over a decade of small stop-gap bills were passed.

   So, which of Iowa’s senators and representatives voted for this historic bill that seems to be such a boon to Iowa is terms of infrastructure and jobs? One representative, Cindy Axne, from Iowa’s 3^rd District, and Senator Chuck Grassley, were the only yes votes. Which means one senator, Joni Ernst, and three representatives from Iowa voted against this bill. And this bill only helps Iowa.

   Much of the information cited in this article is from Isabel Soisson, a multimedia journalist, and Joseph Huisinga with CBS2/Fox28.

Danny C. Saunders

Independent

Monticello, Iowa