Rep. Gottheimer Highlights Bergen County Infrastructure Needs

TEANECK, NJ — Rep. Josh Gottheimer and other state and county leaders gathered under the Route 4, Hackensack River bridge on a recent cloudy morning. The location allowed Gottheimer and others to highlight the region's infrastructure needs.

According to Gottheimer's Office, the bridge is currently rated as "structurally deficient," meaning that key elements of the bridge are considered to be in "poor" or worse condition.

"You can see the rebar, rust, and crumbling cement. We literally have teams going around our highways testing for crumbling cement, so it doesn’t fall and kill someone," Gottheimer said.

"That isn’t safe for our residents."

It's just one of the 1,352 structurally deficient bridges in New Jersey's fifth congressional district, which is only a fraction of the state's 6,801, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.

"The bottom line is that we cannot afford to wait any longer. We cannot afford four more years of crumbling bridges, roads, and tunnels, lead-filled pipes, and failed transportation. And that’s why I’m here today, because I’m confident that, working together in a bipartisan way, we will, once and for all, get an infrastructure bill signed into law. We must get this done. We simply have no other choice," said Gottheimer.

The meeting under the bridge came as President Joe Biden's administration was working to roll out a $2 trillion infrastructure plan which would address problematic bridges and roads across the country, if passed.

The American Jobs Plan calls for more than patching the nation's roads, bridges, and public transportation, however. It would also create millions of new U.S. jobs over the next 8 years, White House officials said.

A large chunk of the plan — about $621 billion — would be used for massive improvements on roads, bridges, public transit, electric vehicle charging stations and other transportation infrastructure in communities.

Here's where the rest of the money will go, according to several reports:

• $400 billion for home health care for aging and disabled Americans.
• $300 billion to manufacturing industries to improve the nation's ability to respond to future pandemics and purchases that would boost the clean energy industry.
• $213 billion to build and retrofit affordable and energy-efficient housing.
• $180 billion to advance the United States as a leader in climate science, innovation, and research and development.
• $111 billion to rebuild water infrastructure by replacing all lead pipes and service lines.
• $100 billion to build new public schools and upgrade existing schools with better ventilation systems, updated labs, and improved school kitchens.
• $100 billion to workforce development, including assistance to displaced workers and underserved groups.

RELATED: How Biden's $2T Infrastructure Plan Could Benefit U.S. Cities

Gottheimer spoke in favor of what the infrastructure plan could bring to New Jersey.

"Not only will infrastructure investment create thousands of good-paying jobs for construction workers, engineers, and others directly involved in those projects — and we have the best labor trades in America right here, ready to build these projects. Higher quality infrastructure will help the economy in the short and long-term, and help it operate more efficiently: cars and trucks will spend less time idling in traffic, commuters and products will be able to get to work faster and home to tuck in their kids, businesses and schools will have the internet access they need, and companies and jobs will come here, stay here, and grow here," he said.

Watch the full event here:

With reporting from Megan Verhelst.

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