WASHINGTON - The United States is officially investing in infrastructure.
On Nov 15, President Biden signed a law that will invest around $1 trillion in roads, bridges, and other infrastructure projects.
Becky Bradley, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commision, said the region will get at least $380 million over the next four years largely to maintain its infrastructure system.
But she explained that how much money the Valley will receive in addition to that sum, and what it can be used for, remains unknown.
“It's very compound, complex funding,” said Bradley. “It’s not sound bite-level type stuff. It's far more in the weeds than that.”
Bradley added that there are “defined buckets of funding” within the infrastructure bill, which limits how the federal funds can be spent.
“Only funding for congestion mitigation, air quality, can be used for congestion mitigation, air quality projects,” said Bradley.
Bradley said there are other “important” things in the new legislation, including investing in the electric vehicle charging network and broadband infrastructure, but that it will be up to the state to decide who gets what.