The George Washington Bridge in New York City is a major choke point for traffic.
Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images North AmericaBiden Plan Funds New Bridges That Locals May Not Want
The most overburdened U.S. bridges are choke points that can hinder commerce. But proposals to fix them by building more and wider spans won’t always meet a friendly local reception.
Alabama officials planning a new bridge along the Gulf Coast won the largest highway construction grant awarded in 2019 by the U.S. government, but within months the project fell victim to residents’ objections to new tolls.
The scuttled expansion of an overcrowded stretch of I-10 across a bay in Mobile left the $125 million grant unused. It also highlighted a challenge for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan perhaps as great as getting it through a divided Congress: Local objections based on politics, racial justice, environmentalism and impacts on residents can torpedo projects intended to upgrade even the most congested U.S. bridges.