Biden Announces $5 Billion Transportation Investment During Wisconsin Visit

President Joe Biden visited Superior, Wisconsin, on Thursday to announce nearly $5 billion in funding for major transportation projects across the United States as part of his “Bidenomics” plan.

One significant project in today’s announcement was the replacement of the 60-year-old Blatnik Bridge, with an investment of $1 billion. The bridge connecting Superior, Wisconsin, with Duluth, Minnesota, is currently in poor condition and is set to close by 2030. The funding will increase the bridge’s weight capacity, improve safety with wider shoulders, and enhance accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists, according to the White House.

“For decades, people talked about replacing this bridge, but it never got done until today,” President Biden said during a speech at Earth Rider Brewery, a local business in Superior.

“This bridge is important. But the story we’re writing is much bigger than that. When you see the shovels in the ground and cranes in the sky and people hard at work in these projects, I hope you feel a renewed sense of pride.”

“Now, coming off of Iowa and New Hampshire, you have Donald Trump, who’s fully consolidated the extreme MAGA base of the party and is marching towards the nomination,” Biden’s campaign communication director Michael Tyler told reporters during a call on Wednesday.

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In response, President Biden’s campaign plans to mobilize resources strategically to address this development, Mr. Tyler said.

The Biden administration has allocated over $400 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund more than 40,000 projects across the nation, according to a White House fact sheet. Additionally, these investments have attracted an extra $640 billion in private sector investments in the manufacturing and clean energy sectors in the United States. These combined efforts have led to the creation of more than 670,000 jobs in the construction industry and 210,000 positions in the clean-energy sector across the country, according to the fact sheet.

During his visit, President Biden is expected to meet with a small business owner in Superior to discuss the importance of the Blatnik Bridge to his business and community.

President Biden will also announce 36 other big infrastructure projects across the country. Notable projects in today’s announcement will include replacing the I-5 Bridge over the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon; improving 10 miles of I-10 through the Gila River Indian Community and Pinal County in Arizona; making improvements in the I-376 corridor in Pittsburgh; and reconnecting communities divided by the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York.

In the 2020 election, Joe Biden secured a narrow victory in Wisconsin by a 0.7 percent margin, flipping the state that Donald Trump won in 2016.

Reacting to President Biden’s visit to Wisconsin, the Trump campaign issued a statement on Thursday.

“Joe Biden will visit Wisconsin today to mislead voters yet again about the devastating effects of Bidenomics on hardworking Americans, but they won’t be fooled,” the statement said. “Only President Trump has the Day One plan to unleash energy production across the country, lower inflation, and put an end to the national nightmare that is Bidenomics.”

Overall, the U.S. economy grew by 2.5 percent in 2023, up from 1.9 percent in 2022.

During his speech in Wisconsin, President Biden highlighted his economic plan, known as Bidenomics, and touted the growing consumer sentiment and the strong GDP growth.

“The experts from the time I got elected were insisting that the recession was just around the corner. Every month, there’s going to be a recession. Well, we’ve got really strong growth,” President Biden told the crowd.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union officially endorsed President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign on Wednesday. The endorsement comes after President Biden showed support for striking workers during a visit to a Michigan picket line in September 2023. UAW President Shawn Fain, who had been cautious about endorsing President Biden, acknowledged that the incumbent president had stood with the union in their struggles against the Big Three automakers—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.

“This choice is clear,” Mr Fain said in his announcement in Washington on Jan. 24. “We need to know who’s going to sit in the most powerful seat in the world and help us win as the united working class.”