Philly Mayor Parker, feds mark landmark bridge reopening

The City of Bridges may be across the commonwealth, but all eyes were on a Philadelphia span Tuesday for the city’s first project completed using federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds. 

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, joined by federal and city officials and those who helped complete the bridge, said the importance of federal investments in the community cannot be overstated. 

“Sometimes, when we’ve seen growth in the City of Philadelphia, the people who have lived in the very communities that are growing don’t get access to the opportunity to participate in that growth,” Parker said Tuesday, noting that the city has received $653 million in federal funding from the Biden-Harris administration since she took office in January. “If us doing all of this work…does not translate into economic opportunities that people who live in Philadelphia, who traditionally have not had access to these opportunities – if they can’t see, touch and feel the benefit for them – all of this has been for naught.”

The Montgomery Avenue Bridge, which had been deteriorating for years, runs over train tracks to connect the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood with North Central Philadelphia. 

Rob Buckley, prime contractor with heavy and highway specialist Buckley & Company, Inc., said it’s a “great investment in our community” that “benefits everyone in the area.” Buckley also noted that the project, in part, used foam glass – the same lightweight, gravel-like material made from recycled glass used in the reconstruction of a section of I-95 in Philadelphia following a fiery accident that damaged part of the highway. 

The federal bipartisan infrastructure bill, signed into law in 2021, has been touted as one of the most significant accomplishments of President Joe Biden’s tenure – and the most significant infrastructure investment in the country’s history. The law provides $1.2 trillion in infrastructure funding nationwide through 2026, including millions of dollars for improvement projects in the commonwealth for airports, highways and bridges, and more.

Tom Perez, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, told City & State that these types of projects can help promote government work in real time. 

“I think a lot of people have perhaps lost faith in government because they don’t see the fruits of their tax dollars at work. The reason why events like today are important is because this project is a big deal to this community,” Perez told City & State, adding that federal funds are also helping workforce development programs in the city. “We’re growing the apprenticeship movement in Philadelphia and in Pennsylvania, and all of these folks who are being trained are getting paid and they’re punching their ticket to the middle class. So we not only built a bridge to connect to communities, but we've really built that bridge to the middle class.”