Donning a hard hat and yellow vest U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his way up the southbound Trowbridge Road ramp along interchange I-496 and U.S.-127. The highways have been under construction since April.
“So bottom line, we are fixing the damn roads, as Governor Whitmer would say, and everything over and under and around those roads too, and it's creating a lot of good paying jobs while we are at it,” said Buttigieg.
Buttigieg was in town to tour the 3.7 mile stretch of freeway under construction thanks to a $36 million grant awarded to the city by his department last year through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“Our federal dollars go a lot further when you have leaders who understand the importance of infrastructure, and that is exactly what you have here in Michigan,” said Buttigieg.
Highlighting how the infrastructure bill prioritizes U.S.-made products in its projects, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, who was traveling with Buttigieg, said the projects are intended to benefit generations of Americans.
“We put in specific ‘Buy American’ requirements for steel, for concrete.. to make sure that even when the money starts flowing, it's spent in specific ways,” said Slotkin. “It benefits the United States of America.”
According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, the investment to the US-127/I-496 stretch has a price tag of $205 million, and is supporting 2,481 jobs.
As of March, the state had received $10.4 billion in funding from the infrastructure bill. More than half is being used for roads, bridges, public transit, ports and airports.
The Trowbridge work is expected to be completed in December.
Copyright 2024 WKAR Public Media
