Our U.S. Representative Tracey Mann from the First District tells us that the new infrastructure bill is bad because it doesn’t include funding for border security or holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable or rescuing American citizens and allies stranded in Afghanistan. He also doesn’t like what is included in what he called the “Build Back Broke” plan.
But another U.S. Representative from Kansas, Sharice Davids from the Third District, talks about what’s in it for us: bringing $3.8 billion to Kansas, for road improvements, public transportation buses and high-speed internet. It will help boost our clean-energy economy, too.
Speaking of clean energy, a new report from the Kansas Sierra Club claims that replacing the state’s coal-fired power plants with clean energy (wind, solar and battery storage) by 2030 would save hundreds of millions of dollars. Electric utility Evergy claims that’s impossible in such a short timeframe, but surely this is worth looking into.
The bill (soon to be signed into law by President Biden) will also boost spending on roads and bridges. Will that help Kansas? You bet.
The National Bridge Inventory shows this information for Kansas Congressional Dist. 1:
Out of the 12,075 bridges in the counties of this district, 645, or 5.3%, are classified as structurally deficient. This means one of the key elements is in poor or worse condition.
Repairs are needed on 5,064 bridges in the district, which will cost an estimated $2.2 billion. While it’s not clear how much Kansas will receive for bridge projects, this is needed. These are bridges we drive over often. The top most-traveled structurally deficient bridges in the district:
• Thomas County’s I-70 bridge over the South Fork of the Solomon River, built in 1966; 12,700 daily crossings.
• Reno County’s Woodie Seat Freeway over Ave. B in Hutchinson, built in 1959; 10,180 daily crossings.
• An I-70 bridge in Geary County, built in 1960; 5,685 daily crossings.
• Barton County’s U.S. 281 bridge over unnamed marsh drainage, built in 1920; 5,380 daily crossings.
• Saline County’s northbound Ninth Street bridge over Mulberry Creek, built in 1962; 3,850 daily crossings.
• Rice County’s U.S. 56 bridge over Spring Creek drainage, built in 1931; 3,020 daily crossings.
• McPherson County’s K-61 southbound bridge over Rs-305 Rt., U.S. 81 Alt, built in 1969; 2,695 daily crossings.
• Rice County’s U.S. 56 bridge over the Little Arkansas River overflow, built in 1925; 2,620 daily crossings.
Again, there’s no guarantee that the Build Back Better Act will help with these. But the act is sure to bring jobs and infrastructure improvements to Kansas.
