Infrastructure bill brings billions to Arizona, Tucson

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TUCSON, Arizona (KOLD News 13) – Just a day after the U.S. Senate passed the $ 1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, Senator Mark Kelly was home in Tucson extolling his success and value to the region.

Who hasn’t been stuck in a traffic jam on Interstate 10 for up to several hours because of an accident?

“There are no access roads on I-10,” he said. “We have to fix that.”

Senator Kelly said the infrastructure bill will cut a $ 5.3 billion check to the Arizona Department of Transportation to partially correct the problem.

The financial breakdown also shows that Tucson Transit will receive $ 118 million for SunTran and Sun Link, the modern day tram.

“Public infrastructure uses private investment,” said Tucson Mayor Regina Romero.

She points out that the $ 180 million invested in Modern Streetcar resulted in nearly $ 1 billion in private investment in downtown Tucson.

An additional $ 10 million will be allocated to help the city remove PFAS from cities’ drinking water.

Amtrak is receiving $ 66 billion to upgrade its lines and add new routes, including a passenger route between Tucson and Phoenix that will operate three times a year.

The $ 110 billion for roads and bridges will help Tucson build some projects that are badly needed but have not yet been funded.

“It would help us build the Drexel Bridge over the Santa Cruz River here in Tucson,” said Mayor Romero. “An urgently needed connector would support improved economic vitality.”

It would also connect East with West and relieve a lot of traffic congestion.

“This is a great moment in our country’s history in terms of Democrats and Republicans working together to do something really positive for our country,” said Senator Kelly, who worked on the bill as one of two dozen senators each day, three Weeks.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, in which the Democrats have a slim majority.

Copyright 2021 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.

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