WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than $11 billion would flow to Ohio for infrastructure projects in the next few years if Congress passes a bipartisan infrastructure package that’s been worked on for weeks.

The Senate is getting closer to passing the $1 trillion deal, which would then head to the House before arriving on President Joe Biden’s desk.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman (R), who has been the lead Republican negotiator, spoke about it on the Senate floor Wednesday night.

“This legislation is unprecedented in many ways in terms of infrastructure – more roads, more bridges, more ports, more water systems – but it’s also historic, unprecedented in terms of the expansion of broadband, finally,” he said.

If the deal gets signed into law, estimates from the White House and Portman have Ohio receiving at least $9.2 billion for highways, $1.2 billion for public transportation, $483 million for bridges, $140 million for electric vehicle charging stations and at least $100 million to expand broadband.

There would also be money set aside for preserving Lake Erie and maintaining airports across the Buckeye State.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) calls it a great first step, but he wants his party to move right on to passing a separate $3 trillion spending package that would focus on “softer infrastructure” measures like child care.

No Republicans are expected to support that package, but Brown said he’s not concerned.

“I don’t think voters care if Mitch McConnell thinks it’s partisan or if Joe Biden does,” Brown said in an interview Thursday. “What they care about is to get things done for our country. We’re doing that in this bipartisan bill. We’ll do that in the next bill.”

Once the Senate passes the bipartisan package, it heads to the House, but lawmakers there are on recess until mid-September and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she won’t bring it up for a vote until Senate Democrats sort out that separate $3 trillion package.

It could be months before Ohio starts seeing some of this money.