Aug 5, 2007 11:54 pm US/Eastern
Schumer Calls For More Bridge Maintenance Funding
by Hazel Sanchez
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Senator Charles Schumer says he'll introduce legislation next month to double a proposed bill for maintenance of the nation's aging bridges. (File)
AP
In the wake of the Minneapolis bridge tragedy, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. is speaking out about our area's bad bridges. The lawmaker believes there are two reasons New York structures are not getting the funding they need.
With the backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge, whose ramps are considered 'structurally deficient' by national standards - just like the I-35 Bridge in Minneapolis, Schumer had a message:
"We must realize this is a wake up call here in New York and across America because for too long we have not done what should be done in Washington to maintain our nations bridges and highways."
Congress is proposing to increase bridge maintenance funding from $4 billion to $5 billion. Schumer would like to see it doubled to $10 billion.
"President Bush says that is too much money and he will veto that bill when it reaches his desk. The president said that before Minneapolis. It was wrong to say it before Minneapolis, and it is wrong to say after," said Schumer. "We need this money to avoid other tragedies like the one that happened over the Mississippi. So today we are urging the President to sign this bill."
If the bill fails, Schumer says drivers remain at risk on older bridges like the Tappan Zee – a bridge ten years older than the I-35. The Tappan Zee carries more traffic than was intended and has been doing so two years past it's projected life span.
The Senator says maintaining it takes a back seat to new construction.
"For too long the Federal government has focused on building new bridges and highways at the expense of maintaining the old ones, even though the old ones have far more traffic," said Schumer. "Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not the way to do this. We need adequate funding for new but not at the expense of the old."
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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