Pittsburgh-area officials took U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on a river tour Thursday to highlight the region’s infrastructure needs.
Mr. Buttigieg said he saw crumbling bridges with aprons underneath to catch falling parts and heard about a system of locks and dams that has outlived its expected lifespan by more than 50 years while he was on the Ohio and Allegheny rivers. But he said he also saw a vibrant transportation system with many boats on the rivers, planes flying overhead, the light rail system and many tractor-trailers on the highways.
Together, those images highlight the “challenges and opportunities” the Biden administration’s push for a $2 trillion American Jobs Plan offers to rebuild infrastructure across the country, Mr. Buttigieg said during remarks on a Grandview Avenue observation deck on Mount Washington after the tour.
Mr. Buttigieg's department is expected to oversee a large part of the jobs program through a proposed $2 trillion in spending on infrastructure. That is expected to include everything from improving roads and bridges to expanding broadband; increasing charging stations for electric vehicles; and replacing diesel school buses and transit buses with electric vehicles.
The transportation secretary was accompanied by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Yassmin Gramian, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Mayor Bill Peduto and Port Authority CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman. Mr. Casey, Mr. Lamb and Ms. Gramian attended the river tour along with Cheryl Moon-Sirianni, PennDOT district executive for Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties.
“This is about a step change,” Mr. Buttigieg said of the need for what he called a “generational investment.” He added: “It’s time to meet state and local leaders where they are … That investment is coming.”
Mr. Buttigieg said the proposed program would create union jobs that don't require college degrees and would be the biggest jobs investment since World War II. Pittsburgh built a reputation more than 100 years ago as the “City of Bridges,” the secretary said, but many of them need major repairs.
“For all that’s changed, people are still dependent on those bridges,” he said.
One important part of the jobs proposal is that it would be equitable, Mr. Buttigieg said. That means lead water pipes would be replaced in every community and broadband service would be made available to everyone, not just select neighborhoods, all without raising taxes on anyone who makes less than $400,000 a year, he said.
The administration remains committed to trying to reach a bipartisan jobs bill, Mr. Buttigieg said, but it won’t wait forever.
“I would say the clock is ticking,” he said. “I would expect the next few weeks will be important to see where we can get agreement.”
Republicans, who have proposed a less ambitious $500 billion plan, issued a statement chiding the Biden proposal as too expensive and saying it would do little to fix Pennsylvania’s infrastructure.
“Buttigieg failed to even fix the potholes of Indiana’s fourth largest city. Why would anyone in the City of Bridges trust his and Joe Biden’s American Bankruptcy Plan to actually help Pennsylvanians’ roads, bridges, airports, waterways, and ports?” said Allie Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee.
Local officials thanked the secretary for the administration’s interest in the Pittsburgh area, noting President Joe Biden announced the American Jobs Plan here several weeks ago.
Ms. Gramian said the federal commitment gives her “hope” that help is coming to a state where her department can fund only about $6.9 billion of the $15 billion it needs annually for road and bridge work. Pennsylvania has about 22,800 bridges, the ninth most in the country, but ranks third in bridges in poor condition.
“We need to do this,” she said of the jobs plan. “We have to be bold.”
Mr. Casey said he’s calling on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to move on the jobs plan.
“It’s about time the federal government did its part,” he said. “The people of this region have done their part.”
Mr. Fitzgerald said the region’s infrastructure needs require assistance from the highest levels.
"I would argue right now we have the most diverse economy ... but we need partners at federal government to make those investments in transportation that we need." he said.
Mr. Buttigieg saw the Emsworth Lock and Dam during the boat tour and said the public shouldn’t underestimate the importance of that system, which needs more than $2 billion in upgrades in this area alone. That system moves millions of tons of cargo in the Pittsburgh region every year and any interruption due to structural problems could close the Port of Pittsburgh, he said.
"It's amazing on that boat ride how many times we heard ‘1930s,’” Mr. Lamb said, referring to the decade when many bridges and locks were constructed.
Mr. Lamb said the workers who built the region’s locks and dams and bridges would be proud they lasted this long. But they wouldn’t be happy with the lack of investment to keep them in top shape, he said.
"I think they would look at us and say, 'What's wrong with you guys?’” Mr. Lamb said.
Mr. Peduto said current leaders should consider it an obligation to leave a strong infrastructure system for their children and grandchildren.
“Infrastructure should never be a partisan issue,” he said “Infrastructure should be an understanding of our responsibility to those that will follow us."
Before the boat tour, Mr. Buttigieg joined Mr. Casey, Mr. Lamb, Mr. Peduto and U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, for coffee at the Gasoline Street Coffee Co. on First Avenue, Downtown. After leaving Mount Washington, Mr. Buttigieg was scheduled to tour Pittsburgh International Airport, where a $1.39 billion reconstruction project is underway, before leaving the area.
Mr. Fitzgerald, who also serves as chairman of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, which oversees transportation projects in the 10-county region, said the federal attention the region has received is heartening. But he said he’s not convinced Republicans will support the Biden jobs plan.
“We’ll see,” he said. “Let’s see if they are willing to spend on the middle class.”
Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina. Ashley Murray: amurray@post-gazette.com.
First Published: May 6, 2021, 4:14 p.m.
Updated: May 6, 2021, 6:44 p.m.