Ashford Avenue Bridge Project Could Suffer If Federal Highway Trust Fund Expires
DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Work on the Ashford Avenue Bridge in Westchester County and thousands of other transportation projects around the country could be in jeopardy if Congress doesn't act.
The federal Highway Trust Fund is set to expire at the end of the month, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
Ashford Avenue Bridge Project Could Suffer If Federal Highway Trust Fund Expires
The crumbling Ashford Avenue Bridge, which passes over the Saw Mill River Parkway and New York State Thruway and connects Dobbs Ferry to Ardsley, is set to be rehabilitated, with the federal government contributing $5 million.
Without the trust fund, however, the project could be delayed or local taxpayers could end up footing the bill.
Congress is still debating how long to extend the trust fund and where to find the billions of dollars required.
Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., who Monday called for the long-term reauthorization of the trust fund, said if the highway trust expires 6,000 projects and 660,000 construction jobs could be at risk.
"The American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. infrastructure an overall grade of D-minus," she said. "Fifty-four percent of our major roads are rated poor or mediocre. This is the United States of America. We're not a third-world country."
One out of every four bridges in the U.S. is structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, Lowey added.
