FRANKFORT, Ky. — Federal data says over 1,000 bridges in Kentucky are in poor condition, and after the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh Friday morning, Senate Minority Floor Leader Morgan McGarvey (D-Louisville) said he doesn’t want to take any chances.
“What happened in Pittsburgh should be a wake up call for everybody in Kentucky,” McGarvey said. “The reality is we’ve neglected our infrastructure here for too many years.”
What You Need To Know
- Kentucky will receive $438 million from the recent federal infrastructure bill to help repair and replace bridges
- State lawmakers are currently discussing a two-year spending plan
- Following the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh Friday morning, the Senate’s top Democrat is calling for more infrastructure spending from the legislature
- The budget has to be approved by April 14
McGarvey said the state needs to invest more in infrastructure, especially with billions coming in from Congress.
“We have lots of infrastructure needs in Kentucky right now,” he said. “The good news is we have this opportunity where we can go in, make major repairs, and make major investments.”
State senators are mulling over the two-year budget after the House passed it last week. The bill will likely head to a joint committee in the next two months before being sent to Gov. Andy Beshear.
Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester) said the federal money, which includes $438 million specifically for bridges, should go far.
“This gives us additional funding to really implement a long-term plan for going after the most needy, the most dangerous bridges first, and then working our way back,” he said.
Stivers said the state’s Bridging Kentucky program, which started in 2018, has already made strides in fixing Kentucky’s bridges.
He also said more money from the state won’t exactly make that work go faster because of other issues.
“You have to have the concrete, the steel, the labor force, so it’s not something that you can just kind of snap your fingers and everything will be in place,” he said.
There are also environmental concerns.
“When you’re dealing with a bridge, you’re dealing with water,” Stivers said. “And if it has to have total replacement, all of a sudden you may get into environmental factors like the snail darter, or the tiger mussel, all those things come into play.”
Lawmakers need to have a budget passed by the end of the session on April 14, and Stivers said he expects to have one on the governor’s desk by late March.