7/9/08-Gov. Ed Rendell signed a bill into law this week that authorizes the state to borrow $350 million to quicken repairs on more than 400 bridges throughout the state.
The General Assembly approved legislation a week ago as part of the budget process that allows the state to address the backlog of about 6,000 state-owned bridges determined to be structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The total expenditure to make fixes would be more than $11 billion.
There are 411 bridges that will be financed out of the bond issue. Combined with existing state and federal funds, the borrowed money will allow Pennsylvania to spend $1.7 billion on bridge repairs this year.
The list of bridges to get attention with the bond issue is broken down by county and posted under the “Rebuild PA Bridges” button at www.dot.state.pa.us. The tab is located at the lower right hand corner of the main page.