Infignos Media - Governor Bentley talks about plan for deficient bridges and roads

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Governor Bentley talks about plan for deficient bridges and roads

Friday, February 24, 2012

When is the last time you drove across the bridge near I-65 north and 2nd Avenue? It's in the top ten in need of repair.

Transportation for America says one in every ten bridges in Alabama is deteriorating to some degree.

Governor Bentley says he has a plan to get these bridges fixed, and he doesn't need the people's vote or approval from the legislature to do so.

The reason he doesn't have need approval is because he's using GARVEE bonds. It stands for Grant Anticipated Revenue Vehicles. That means the state can get federal money now, based on what it knows it would receive down the road.

So the governor plans to borrow 250 - 300 million dollars each year for three years.

"I think it's long overdue. And I think what we're doing will make the state safer for the people who travel on our roads," said Governor Bentley.

Alabama bridges are showing their age. Governor Bentley says there's no better time to put his plan into action.

"We are the lowest leveraged state in the country right now, so this is a good time to borrow money. What we want to do is borrow 250 to 300 million dollars to work on projects that counties have ready at the present time," said Bentley.

Bentley says he will ask county officials to submit plans for repair, and he will decide how to distribute the money along with a committee.

Whether a county receives money is contingent on this.

"It will depend on whether or not these are on the feeder roads, because this is federal money and we have to make sure that they're on primary roads or secondary roads that attach to those," said Bentley.

In Blount County, forty bridges have been deemed structurally deficient. County commissioners say without federal dollars, many of them will stay that way.

However, John Cooper, the director for the Alabama Department of Transportation, admits Bentley's method of operation isn't perfect.

"We're going to do the best we can. This is a method to deal with this problem, to attempt to address it, at least make a good start on it. We're not under allusion that it will completely solve our transportation problems," said Cooper.

And the problems are many.

"Many of them were built in a time that it insufficient for the way they're used today. Many were built at a time when they're not sufficient for the weights that our vehicles carry today. Some of them have either been hit or damaged, some of them maybe the base has eroded," Cooper said.

Bentley wants to work fast, and expects to begin the first wave of projects by this summer.

"These are dangerous bridges. That's why we need to go ahead and borrow the money, take care of the bridges and roads. We need to preserve what we already have," he said.

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Keywords: Governor, Bentley, bridges, roads, Alabama, transportation, America

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