WALZ AMENDMENT ADDED TO HOUSE-PASSED BRIDGE INSPECTION BILL

"U.S. HOUSE"

07/24/2008

Walz provision ensures prompt federal response to situations like Winona’s bridge closure


(Washington, DC) – Just weeks after the Highway 43 bridge in Winona, MN was closed, causing significant problems for local commuters and area businesses, Congressman Walz successfully added an amendment to a federal bridge inspection bill to help address some of the problems that arose from that closure.

Walz’s amendment to H.R. 3999, the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act, requires the Secretary of Transportation to report to Congress on the economic impact and affect on regional transportation patterns when a bridge is closed for emergency repairs. Walz’s amendment also requires the Secretary to suggest steps to lessen the impact of the economic and transportation problems that the bridge closure may cause.

“The sudden closure of the Highway 43 Bridge in Winona caused extreme hardship for many hard-working families, employers and businesses,” said Walz. “People were faced with detours of up to 100 miles round-trip, which was especially difficult during this time of record-high gas prices. In the first week alone, the bridge closure cost the city of Winona $95,000, which doesn’t even begin to address the incalculable expenses that area residents and businesses incurred to navigate around the closed bridge. My amendment will help ensure that the Department of Transportation plays an active role in finding ways to lessen the economic impact and transportation problems that will arise from future bridge closures.”

The National Highway and Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act will improve the safety of Federal-aid highway bridges such as Winona’s Highway 43 Bridge, will strengthen bridge inspection standards and processes, and increase investment in the reconstruction of structurally deficient bridges on the National Highway System. The bill also revises national bridge inspection standards to provide for annual inspections of structurally deficient highway bridges, including biennial inspections of those bridges that have not been determined to be structurally deficient.