President Biden on Thursday traveled to Superior, Wisconsin to announce $5 billion in new infrastructure projects aimed at shoring up his working-class base ahead of a contentious presidential election.
The money will fund 37 infrastructure projects across 12 states, with most of it going towards repairing or building new bridges.
Mr. Biden announced the Blatnik Bridge, a span that connects Wisconsin and Minnesota and will be replaced for $1.06 billion, part of the new infrastructure projects.
“This bridge is important, but the story we are writing is much bigger than that,” Mr. Biden said. “When you see the shovels in the ground and cranes in the sky and people hard at work on these projects, I hope you feel a renewed sense of pride — pride in your community, pride in what we can do and pride in America.”
Superior and Duluth, Minnesota, on the other side of the Blatnik Bridge, are both heavily Democratic strongholds. However, the surrounding areas have become increasingly favorable to former President Donald Trump, who will likely be Mr. Biden’s GOP opponent in this year’s presidential election.
By traveling to the region and discussing how the bridge replacement could benefit the community, Mr. Biden hopes to stop the erosion of support.
“It’s a vital link to the nation’s economy,” Mr. Biden said, ticking off the number of vehicles and small businesses that rely on the Blatnik Bridge to transport goods and services.
Mr. Biden won Wisconsin in 2020 over Mr. Trump by about 21,000 votes.
The latest round of infrastructure projects comes through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which Mr. Biden signed in 2022. More than half of the $5 billion will go to projects in rural parts of the country.
Among the investments is $600 million to replace a bridge that connects Washington and Oregon and $372 million for a bridge in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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