Villaraigosa Calls For 'Partnership' With Feds To Rebuild LA Bridges, Roads
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Two of the Southland's leading Democratic lawmakers said Thursday that Republicans will be to blame if Congress fails to pass legislation aimed at creating jobs by fixing U.S. roads and bridges.
KNX 1070's John Brooks reports Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Sen. Barbara Boxer launched the political missive in an effort to salvage rapidly-deteriorating infrastructure around the city.
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Against a backdrop of the crumbling 6th Street bridge over the L.A. river, the political duo lashed out over the failure of the GOP majority to pass any version of the Obama administration's jobs bill in the House.
The comments come ahead of a big transportation bill set to go before a committee vote next month that Villaraigosa and Boxer claimed could create 170,000 jobs in California — including funding to repair the 6th Street bridge.
"We're doing as much as anyone when it comes to infrastructure, but that bridge costs upwards of $400 million to repair," said Villaraigosa. "We need a partnership with the federal government."
Boxer, meanwhile, estimated that over 70,000 bridges and at least half the roads across the nation fail to meet safety standards, and that Congress must pass all legislation that would put people back to work to repair the nation's infrastructure.
