ROCHESTER - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that crumbling bridges, crowded seaports and clogged highways threaten the economy and homeland security as well as the public's safety.
Last week's fatal bridge collapse in Minneapolis underscores the critical need for infrastructure improvements nationwide, Clinton said.
“There may be nothing we individually can do to try ease the pain and difficulties the bridge collapse will cause to the Twin Cities area, but there is a great deal we can do as a nation to ensure that accidents like that don't happen in New Hampshire and across America,” she told several hundred people in the historic Rochester Opera House.
She proposed spending $10 billion over 10 years to repair and upgrade roads, bridges, waterways and seaports.
“Something is very, very wrong when, at the dawn of the 21st century, in the richest country on Earth, people are actually nervous about driving over bridges for fear they might collapse. Or they're worried that their levees may burst, or their highways might buckle,” she said. “The degradation of our infrastructure isn't just a serious threat to our families' safety - it is a threat to our homeland security, as well.”
As for the economy, the time commuters spend stuck in traffic each year amounts to $170 billion in wasted time, fuel, productivity and damage to the environment, she said, adding that spending $1 billion on infrastructure would create 48,000 jobs.
“We're trying to build our children's future with our grandparents infrastructure,” she said.
The New York senator also proposes providing $250 million in grants so states can review their bridges and other structures and forming a commission to review safety certification standards and develop better ways to prioritize needed repairs on bridges and roads.
To modernize the nation's infrastructure, Clinton said she would increase federal funding for public transit by $1.5 billion per year and target it to communities that have encouraged residential development that makes the best use of public transportation. Federal funding for intercity passenger rail services would increase by $1 billion over five years.
“There may be nothing we individually can do to try ease the pain and difficulties the bridge collapse will cause to the Twin Cities area, but there is a great deal we can do as a nation to ensure that accidents like that don't happen in New Hampshire and across America,” she told several hundred people in the historic Rochester Opera House.
She proposed spending $10 billion over 10 years to repair and upgrade roads, bridges, waterways and seaports.
“Something is very, very wrong when, at the dawn of the 21st century, in the richest country on Earth, people are actually nervous about driving over bridges for fear they might collapse. Or they're worried that their levees may burst, or their highways might buckle,” she said. “The degradation of our infrastructure isn't just a serious threat to our families' safety - it is a threat to our homeland security, as well.”
As for the economy, the time commuters spend stuck in traffic each year amounts to $170 billion in wasted time, fuel, productivity and damage to the environment, she said, adding that spending $1 billion on infrastructure would create 48,000 jobs.
“We're trying to build our children's future with our grandparents infrastructure,” she said.
The New York senator also proposes providing $250 million in grants so states can review their bridges and other structures and forming a commission to review safety certification standards and develop better ways to prioritize needed repairs on bridges and roads.
To modernize the nation's infrastructure, Clinton said she would increase federal funding for public transit by $1.5 billion per year and target it to communities that have encouraged residential development that makes the best use of public transportation. Federal funding for intercity passenger rail services would increase by $1 billion over five years.
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