Obama To Propose $302 Billion Highway Repair Program

President Obama will propose a four-year, $302 billion transportation program on Wednesday to repair and rebuild roads, bridges and transit systems, the White House said.

The program would include funding from $150 billion in revenue raised through “pro-growth business tax reform”, said the White House. The initial announcement said this would include “closing unfair tax loopholes, lowering tax rates, and making the system more fair,” though it included few specific details.

Infrastructure in the United States has deteriorated in recent years, and the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country’s roads, ports, bridges and other infrastructure an overall grade of D+ last year in its annual rating program. The Associated Press found last year that 65,605 bridges in the federal National Bridge Inventory were classified as “structurally deficient.”

The Obama administration called for a $77 billion transportation program last year as part of its 2013 budget proposal and has proposed other measures in the past, but the efforts have stalled in Congress.