WASHINGTON, D.C. — Billions of dollars allocated by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure law are now being spent across the country, making it a big topic at a national gathering of mayors this week in Washington, D.C.

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval spoke at a session on infrastructure at the 92^nd annual Conference of Mayors on how Ohio is using some of the $10.6 billion the state received from the federal government.

More than 350 specific projects have been identified for funding, according to the White House. Much of the money goes to the Ohio Department of Transportation, then is distributed to municipal planning organizations and local agencies.

The largest single project in Ohio is the rehabilitation and expansion of the Brent Spence Bridge between Cincinnati and Covington, Ken., which carries $2 billion in freight each day. The new design will reshape lanes on the existing bridge and build a companion bridge next to it at a total cost of $3.6 billion.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure bill may be in theory challenging to understand, but it’s very easy to understand that this bridge has not been worked on in generations until the bill was passed,” Pureval said.

Pureval said the work was forging a bipartisan bridge, both figuratively and literally.

“This bridge required a Republican governor of Ohio and a Democratic governor of Kentucky,” he said.

The overall quality of infrastructure in Ohio remains a work in progress. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the state a C- grade in its most recent report card in 2021.

Work has already begun on ASCE’s next report card on Ohio, which is due out in summer of 2025. Engineers warned that infrastructure projects are long processes that can take years. The Brent Spence bridge project, for example, isn’t expected to be complete until 2029.

“Now that the money is coming in, the projects can now start to move forward,” said Jim Pajk, chair of ASCE’s Transportation Policy Committee and former president of the ASCE Ohio Council. “I think where you’re really going to see a bigger improvement is another four years down the road, when these projects are completed.”

Pajk said engineering projects don’t just repair existing infrastructure, but also adapt it for more extreme weather events as the climate changes.

“We’re hoping that when we go in and do a roadway project, that the storm sewers can also be improved at that same time, that we’re not just doing one and then having to come back later, tear up the road and fix that,” he said.