Governor Andy Beshear (D) recently highlighted the award of $8.2 million via the second round of funding from the state’s newly established County and City Bridge Improvement Program to 22 bridge projects.
[Above photo by KYTC]
Created in 2024, Kentucky’s County and City Bridge Improvement Program sets aside $25 million in each of the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years to address local bridges that are closed, have traffic limitations, or require repair. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet added that, in February, it issued $10.2 million to 23 bridge projects via this program.
“This funding will help maintain safe and efficient community connections that Kentuckians rely on across the state,” Gov. Beshear noted in a statement. “These projects will reopen closed bridges, strengthen aging ones and ensure every Kentuckian can travel safely, whether they’re headed to work, school or the doctor.”
The KYTC noted that it reviewed each project receiving funding via this program to ensure they offer the most effective solutions.
“Each bridge plays a crucial role in daily life – supporting school routes, first responders and local economies,” said KYTC Secretary Jim Gray. “Our review committee has prioritized the projects with the greatest need. This investment helps communities stay connected and safe.”
Several state departments of transportation oversee similar programs that provide funding to local bridge projects.
For example, in March, the South Dakota Transportation Commission awarded some $16.6 million to 17 bridge projects via the state’s Bridge Improvement Grant or BIG program, which is overseen by the South Dakota Department of Transportation.
Each year, $7 million is dedicated annually from license plate fees and from non-commercial vehicle fees to the BIG program, South Dakota DOT noted, with the agency setting aside $8 million per year of state highway funds to make a total of $15 million available for bridge preservation, rehabilitation, and replacement projects statewide.
To be eligible for a BIG grant, the agency said, a county must impose a wheel tax as well as a County Highway and Bridge Improvement Plan to detail proposed county highway and bridge improvement projects within the county for the next five years.
Also in March, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation provided $468 million from state fuel tax revenues to help municipalities maintain local roads and bridges across the state; helping pay for things like snow removal and road repaving projects.
The agency noted that there are nearly 121,000 miles of public roads in Pennsylvania, with more than 2,500 municipalities managing approximately 78,000 miles of that roadway network as well as more than 6,600 bridges.
And in February, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R) issued more than $40 million in state transportation funding to cities and counties statewide to support various local-level road and bridge projects.
That funding is made available through the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program-II or “ATRIP-II,” a program created in 2019 by the Rebuild Alabama Act; an annual program that requires the Alabama Department of Transportation to set aside at least $30 million of the share of new gas tax revenue for projects of local interest on the state highway system.
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