Rebuilding Michigan’s Transportation Infrastructure

Mid-Michigan drivers shouldn’t have to dodge potholes on our roads or take long detours to avoid broken-down bridges. That’s why rebuilding our infrastructure is a top priority for me.

Earlier this year, I secured $15.3 million for local road, bridge, and other infrastructure projects here in mid-Michigan. This week, I’m continuing that work. My colleagues and I in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted to advance a bipartisan plan to invest in our roads, bridges, and railways.

The Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America’s 250th (BUILD America 250) Act extends federal infrastructure and public transit programs for five years and makes critical reforms to improve safety, reduce costs, and speed up construction.

Here are just some of the accomplishments in the Build America 250 Act:

• Delivering investments to fix roads in Michigan and across the country, with our state estimated to receive $7.8 billion in highway funds from the bill — a $551 million increase compared to the 2021 infrastructure law.
• Providing the largest-ever investment to build and repair bridges, at a time when Michigan’s bridges are the 10th worst in the nation, with 11% in poor condition. Michigan is estimated to receive $163 million per year to construct and rehabilitate bridges.
• Supports public transit agencies and passengers by modernizing buses, upgrading stations, improving accessibility, and more. Michigan is estimated to receive $176 million for transit in fiscal year 2027 under the bill.
• Speeding up the permit process for infrastructure projects by eliminating unnecessary and duplicative paperwork and project reviews.
• Boosting safety by supporting law enforcement, protecting work zones, improving railroad crossings, ensuring commercial drivers are qualified, and supporting security for passengers and drivers on public transit.
• Preventing cargo theft by strengthening the enforcement of security regulations and assessing security vulnerabilities. This builds on another recently-passed bill that I co-sponsored to crack down on retail and cargo theft.

The bill also includes several key priorities I secured to fix rural infrastructure, support Michigan workers, improve safety, and more, such as:

• Creating the $275 million Agricultural and Rural Road Improvement Program to deliver highway funds to repair critical roads in rural communities. 
• Reducing delays for infrastructure projects by removing duplicative agency reviews of permit requests and supporting states that can review projects more efficiently than federal agencies.
• Supporting Michigan manufacturing by strengthening the Buy America requirements for federal projects.
• Addressing safety concerns by investing in investigating accidents for drug-impaired driving and investing in overnight parking for truckers.

Families in mid-Michigan need reliable roads and bridges to get to work, church, and the grocery store. Farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses depend on our highways and railways to get products to market.

Our bipartisan BUILD American 250 Act will deliver those investments.