US infrastructure plan has 4,300 projects

Washington, May 16: Six months after the signing of President Joe Biden’s

$1 trillion infrastructure package, the government said on Monday there are

4,300 projects underway with more than $110 billion in funding announced — milestones the administration is publicly heralding as midterm politics intensify.

White House senior adviser Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, said the roads, bridges and other projects are laying “a foundation for tremendous growth into the future”. Landrieu said Biden and members of his administration have made more than 125 trips to highlight the bipartisan investments in infrastructure. He declined to predict how much the storytelling will resonate with voters as construction starts. “I think that if Americans step back, we will all have to admit that for the last 50 years we’ve had the need to do this and we haven't found the will or the way to get it done,” Landrieu said.

He added that this is a “wonderful down payment” on infrastructure needs in the country that total roughly $7 trillion. The administration made a strategic calculation that delivering results would help Democrats retain control of the House and the Senate in this year’s elections.

Infrastructure was a rare source of bipartisan unity as Biden struck a deal that attracted several Republican senators. The law contains money to expand internet access and replace lead water pipes and for rail and public transit projects and investments to address climate change.

When Biden signed the law on Nov 15, he pledged to voters that “America is moving again and your life is going to change for the better”. Six months later, the stock market is down, inflation is near a 40-year peak, Russia’s war in Ukraine is pushing up energy costs and many Americans feel pessimistic about the economy's health. There is an open question whether voters will reward infrastructure projects in which the benefits are years away.

“All we can do is tell the story about what we do, and the impact that it has on the midterms will be whatever it’s going to be,” Landrieu said.

Of the $110 billion announced so far, $52.5 billion is for federal highway funding this fiscal year and $20.5 billion for public transit.

SIX MONTHS after Biden signed the law on Nov 15, the stock market is down, inflation is near a 40-year peak, Russia’s war in Ukraine is pushing up energy costs and many Americans feel pessimistic about the economy's health.