Infrastructure week is finally here.
President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan, $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law Monday.
“Clearly, it’s a game changer for the nation,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava.
She was among the local leaders invited to the White House for the signing ceremony. Levine-Cava has her eyes on funding a variety of projects, including transit improvements laid out in the county’s Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit plan.
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“We’ve got those projects lined up and ready to go, transit, we have aging bridges that need repairs, we’ve got broadband access issues, we’re going to continue our resilience programs, the solar installations, the electric charging, all of these are priorities within the bill and we are going to seize as much of it as we can possibly get,” Levine-Cava said via Zoom from Washington.
The infrastructure bill contains billions of dollars for roads and bridges but also for new rail lines, projects to mitigate sea level rise, improved broadband access, and environmental improvement projects.
State Senator Shevrin Jones, (D) West Park, also attended the bill signing ceremony. He said the priority in his district is improving broadband access and helping homeowners transition from septic tanks to sewer lines.
“Moving from septic to sewer, cities like Opa-locka, cities like Miami Gardens, they have been asking for this for so long, this will be the opportunity to be able to do that,” Jones said.
That’s huge for homeowners, as it raises their property values while simultaneously protecting the aquifer we all rely on for drinking water.
Broward Mayor Steve Geller said Monday there are many roads and bridges in the county targeted for improvements, and he says the county wants to increase its fleet of electric buses.
“We’re planning to buy a lot more electric buses, planning on spending money on charging stations, we would like Broward to be a leader in this area,” Geller said.
The bill was bipartisan, with 19 Republicans in the Senate and 13 in the House voting for it. However, no Republicans from Florida voted for the bill. Florida’s share is about $19 billion.
