Tag: U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids

Rep. Davids releases new report on state of roads in 3rd District

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, center, Kansas Department of Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz, right, and Unified Government Mayor-CEO Tyrone Garner announced the State of our Systems: Roads report.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., has released a new report examining the status and safety of roads in the 3rd District.

Her office’s “State of our Systems” series details the most pressing infrastructure needs in the district and how Rep. Davids is working to bring federal funds to those projects — including through the new bipartisan infrastructure law, which she helped lead into passage. Key findings include:

• At current funding levels, most streets in Kansas City, Kansas, will be in a state of poor or failed condition by 2031.

• Driving on deteriorated roads costs Kansas motorists $1.1 billion a year – $509 per driver – in the form of repairs, vehicle depreciation, and increased fuel consumption.

• The bipartisan infrastructure law’s investments in Kansas roads and transit systems will add $625 million in state gross domestic product each year.

• By 2050, the US 69-167th Street interchange—which is advancing due to the federal funding available from the new law—is expected to see a 450% increase in daily vehicle traffic.

Rep. Davids announced that the bipartisan infrastructure law has allocated $500 million to Kansas for federal-aid highway programs in 2022.

Over five years, Kansas will receive an estimated $2.8 billion in federal highway and bridge funding, $28 million for highway safety traffic programs to help reduce deaths and injuries from motor vehicle-related crashes, and $63 million to help reduce transportation-related emissions.

These funds will allow the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) to address transportation needs identified through local consultation meetings sooner than they otherwise would have, bringing direct investment into communities for the projects they have been asking for—like modernizing one of the most congested stretches on I-35 between old US-56 and 119th Street, or expanding the US 69-167th St interchange to create a critical lifeline for emergency vehicles and patients visiting the new AdventHealth South Overland Park facility.

Another example detailed in Davids’ report is the 18th Street reconstruction in Wyandotte County, which would improve pedestrian, bike, and vehicle infrastructure for a greenway across the county. Both the I-35 project and the US69/167th St interchange have been advanced by KDOT due to the federal investment from the bipartisan infrastructure law.

“The bipartisan infrastructure law will do more for our roads than just fix potholes—it will save lives by making them safer, reduce transportation costs for people and goods, create good-paying jobs, and spur innovation and long-term economic growth in the Kansas Third,” Rep. Davids said. “My office’s latest report details a few of the projects and most pressing needs that we will work to tackle with help from the new federal funding.”

“Highways are more than just concrete and asphalt — they connect people, resources, and opportunities. This new report makes clear we need to be investing in these vital structures, so we can continue to foster critical connections,” said Kansas Department of Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz. “That’s why I was pleased to announce earlier this week that through IKE and the new federal funds, KDOT is advancing $750 million in transportation improvements into the development pipeline, including $360 million for the Kansas City area.”

“We are very appreciative of the work Representative Davids and Secretary Lorenz are doing,” Unified Government Mayor-CEO Tyrone Garner said. “The bipartisan infrastructure law will help Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County make important investments both in our infrastructure and in historically disinvested areas in truly meaningful ways.”

The full “State of our Systems: Roads” report can be accessed at https://davids.house.gov/sites/davids.house.gov/files/The%20State%20of%20our%20Systems%20Roads-compressed.pdf. The previous report, “State of our Systems: Water,” can be accessed at https://davids.house.gov/sites/davids.house.gov/files/The%20State%20of%20our%20Systems%20Water%20%285%29_compressed.pdf.
The “State of our Systems: Bridges,” can be accessed at https://davids.house.gov/sites/davids.house.gov/files/The%20State%20of%20our%20Systems%20Bridges_October%202021_compressed%20%282%29.pdf.

‘Americans always rebuild’: Biden promotes infrastructure investments in Kansas City speech

by Allison Kite, Kansas Reflector

Kansas City, Missouri — President Joe Biden on Wednesday visited the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority to tout the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill he signed into law last month, expected to bring billions in spending on roads and bridges, clean water, public transportation, high speed internet and more to Kansas and Missouri.

The president said investments amount to a “blue collar blueprint” for rebuilding the country, providing more good-paying jobs and economic opportunities.

For the better part of the 20th century, the United States became a global leader through “our willingness to invest in ourselves,” he said citing the space race and the federal highway system. Now, he said, China and the rest of the world are catching up and moving beyond.

Running through Biden’s speech was a thread of frustration at the state of the nation’s infrastructure and the difficulties faced by those who struggle to afford prescription drugs or access the internet, implying the nation should be doing far better.

“We never break. We never stop. We Americans always rebuild, and we will rebuild this country,” Biden said.

The president also paid tribute to former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, the Russell, Kansas, native who died Sunday at 98.

“Bob Dole was an American giant, a man of extraordinary courage, both physical and moral courage, a war hero who sacrificed beyond measure, who nearly gave his life for our country in World War II, among the greatest of the great generation, a leader of honesty, decency and good humor.”

The visit marks Biden’s first trip to the Kansas City area since assuming office. First Lady Jill Biden visited Kansas City, Kansas, earlier this year.

The far-flung city of more than half a million people has struggled to keep up with the infrastructure needs across its 300 square miles. For years, residents’ water bills rose by double digits every year to fund a federally mandated upgrade to keep the city’s wastewater from overflowing. The city renegotiated that mandate with the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year.

Kansas City’s iconic Buck O’Neil Bridge has long needed replacing and had to be rehabilitated in 2018 while it awaited funding for replacement. The state owned bridge is now being rebuilt at the cost of $250 million, half of which the city contributed through a sales tax increase. Missouri’s highways are notoriously troublesome with more than $4.5 billion in unfunded needs. The Missouri General Assembly this spring increased sales tax on gasoline for the first time in almost 30 years.

Missouri’s highways are notoriously troublesome with more than $4.5 billion in unfunded needs. The Missouri General Assembly this spring increased sales tax on gasoline for the first time in almost 30 years.

Under the legislation, Kansas is expected to get $2.6 billion in highway funds and $225 million for bridges over five years. Missouri is expected to receive $6.5 billion and $484 million for those investments.

The bill also allocates $866 million to Missouri and $454 million to Kansas to eradicate lead from drinking water systems and update infrastructure. The two states have enormous numbers of lead service lines carrying water from mains into residents’ homes. And Kansas and Missouri children suffer at high rates from elevated blood levels.

A study published in September found more than 80% of children in Missouri and 60% in Kansas have some amount of lead in their blood. In Missouri, 4.5% of kids had elevated levels of blood lead — more than 5 micrograms per deciliter. In Kansas, that was 2.6%, putting both states above the 1.9% national average.

And both states would get hundreds of millions to expand broadband service to disconnected rural areas and low-income families that can’t afford internet access.

Biden said no parent in 21st century America should have to sit in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant to use the internet, like many did during the pandemic.

“This is the United States of America, for God’s sake,” Biden said.

Biden said the bill also marked the largest investment in passenger railways in the United States for 50 years, joking about his own affinity for riding the train from Washington to Delaware.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat who represents the Kansas side of the Kansas City area, said she was excited by the billions of dollars that would flow into the region through infrastructure investments. She said residents can feel the economic impact of decades of underinvestment in infrastructure.

“From bridges to broadband, we’re continuing to create opportunities, because that’s what this is about,” Davids said.

Davids joined Biden on a tour of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, along with Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, and Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas. Biden met with transportation officials and union workers before speaking.

The federal infrastructure bill includes $89 billion for local transit projects over the next five years, with $5.6 billion earmarked for low- or zero-emission vehicles.

In 2020, Kansas City, Missouri, became the first major American city to eliminate fares for public transportation. The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority operates 78 bus routes across state lines, serving 14 million riders annually. The fleet includes four battery-powered buses, and only zero-emission buses will be added.

Lucas said his mother was one of many Kansas City residents who relied on the Kansas City bus system when he was a child. Investing in infrastructure, Lucas said, isn’t about objects — it’s about people.

“The country’s eyes are on us, and we will continue to showcase what it means to be a city committed to equitable service delivery and committed to working for all folks in all neighborhoods,” Lucas said.

Kansas City also has a free downtown streetcar that will be extended to the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the coming years. The Federal Transit Administration provided a $174 million grant to extend the service by 3.5 miles south to the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus.

Throughout Biden’s speech, he stopped to emphasize that the infrastructure bill would create new union jobs, saying unions built the country’s middle class.

The time for losing, he said, was “over, over, over, over.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com,may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2021/12/08/americans-always-rebuild-biden-promotes-infrastructure-investments-in-kansas-city-speech/.

More than $79 million in federal funds slated for water infrastructure in Kansas

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids applauded the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement that Kansas will receive $79,430,000 from the bipartisan infrastructure law to address drinking water and wastewater systems.

This 2022 allocation is the first of five years of dedicated State Revolving Fund water funding that Kansas will receive through the Davids-backed bipartisan infrastructure law.

This announcement marks the first official round of funding for Kansas from the bipartisan infrastructure law and will be used to create jobs, upgrade aging water infrastructure, and deliver safe, lead-free drinking water across the state, according to Rep. Davids.

In the 3rd District, this will help finance local projects like those that Davids highlighted in her “State of our Systems: Water” report, including the nearly $2 billion in repairs identified by Johnson County Wastewater over the next 25 years.

“I’m thrilled to bring the first official funding allocation from the bipartisan infrastructure law to Kansas. These historic investments in our water infrastructure, including targeted funding to identify and replace lead pipes, will help deliver safe, reliable water to our communities for years to come,” Rep. Davids said. “I look forward to continuing to support our local public works and utilities as they put these funds to work for the 3rd District.”

“Every Kansas family should have access to clean drinking water – period,” Gov. Laura Kelly said. “This $79 million will go a long way to support our families and businesses by removing lead pipes and building more resilient, sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure. Water affects every part of our lives, I commend Congress for passing this important bipartisan legislation to support Kansans.”

Rep. Davids joined local experts from Johnson County and Unified Government Public Works Departments as well as local utilities last month to emphasize the importance of investing in water infrastructure and praise the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law—which has been called the most fiscally responsible infrastructure bill in at least a decade by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Rep. Davids serves as the vice chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and was “in the thick of the infrastructure bill from the start.”

During a Unified Government Commission discussion of stormwater fees last week, it was mentioned that water infrastructure loans from the state of Kansas could be “forgivable” loans.