Secretary Buttigieg Remarks at Calcasieu Bridge Award, Louisiana

Well thank you very much Governor.  Thanks to all of you, it's a real pleasure to be here and I want to thank you for lining up such a beautiful day.  

When I was Mayor- I always said that if it was bad weather, I said it was the county in charge and if it was good weather, I said it was us - so I don't know if you got to have words with your parish police counselor or not. But to all of you, thanks for the welcome.  

Look, we want to work with every state and territory in the country, and we do. But it makes a big difference to work with a governor who understands the importance of infrastructure and that is certainly the case here, Governor Edwards, with your leadership. It's made a big difference in this partnership, so thank you. 

Mayor, I want to thank you for leading your community through good times and challenging times. The job has not gotten any easier since I proudly wore the title of Mayor and your readiness to work in a bipartisan fashion with this administration, with anybody who can benefit Lake Charles, it reflects so well on you and your team. 

I know we have the Mayor of West Lake here, as well as state, parish, and other leaders and we know that it takes collaboration across every level of government to get good things done; that’s part of why we're here. 

I want to thank Shawn Wilson who has been a terrific partner both in his capacity leading the state DOT and as the leader of AASHTO, the National Association of State Departments of Transportation at a moment when state departments of transportation have had more to talk about and work on and act on than any time in our lifetimes. It's been such a pleasure to work with you. And I really take to heart and appreciate this safety pledge. We are facing a crisis when it comes to safety on American roadways; we can do something about it, we are doing something about it, and no one level of government, no jurisdiction, no entity can do it alone, which is why we have this call-to-action and why that pledge means so much. 

I know there are a lot of friends from the unions and the building trades here, thank you for being here. We are excited about all the good-paying union jobs that are going to come out of this and the other work in the infrastructure law. You remind us by being here, we are not just building roads and bridges; we're building livelihoods, we're building family savings, we're building those pathways into the middle class that are so important and you are at the heart of that.  

And I want to mention that I had a good conversation with Senator Cassidy on the way down here. He can't be here because of responsibilities he has in the Senate, but I want to recognize his vision in reaching across the aisle, working with President Biden to make today possible. Our President often says that there's no such thing as a Democrat or Republican bridge, and this is a good reminder of that, and I'm so appreciative of the Senator and of everybody who helped to make this a reality. 

I also had a conversation on the way over with Mitch Landrieu, my colleague who does so much to help make sure that this infrastructure bill is rolling out well, who educated me on the proper pronunciation of Calcasieu - hope I got that right - as well as on everything that this region has been through.  

And everybody knows, whether they have a direct connection to this region or not, if you're paying attention to American infrastructure, you know how important this bridge is - certainly to jobs, and to waterfront attractions, and the quality of life here in Southwest Louisiana - but also to a supply chain that impacts the entire country.  

And as was mentioned earlier, this is a bridge that - as important as it is today - is still relying on construction from just after World War II. Structurally and functionally deficient today; built to handle far fewer than the 80,000 daily crossings that are happening. And because of the way I-10 narrows from six lanes to four - and the steep four lanes at that - it creates a lot of delays and contributes to a crash rate that's about 66% higher than what is typical in this state.  

And I want to recognize that this does come in the context of what this region has faced and the resilience that this region has shown. I saw the Weather Channel refer to Lake Charles as America's most weather battered city. Now, President Biden was proud to deliver over a billion dollars to Louisiana in disaster recovery funds, but he knows we can't stop there. And as Calcasieu Bridge has been considered the primary bottleneck affecting evacuation efforts during many of those recent weather emergencies, that just gives us one more reason to have a sense of urgency around this work.  

Now, I recognize that a lot of people have been working on this for well over 20 years, waiting for the right kind of partnership from Washington, and I remember the news reports during that visit that each of those who spoke before me mentioned - when President Biden was standing not far from where we were today, and a media reaction that sort of said ‘Okay, we're glad you're here, but you're about the umpteenth politician to come here saying we were actually going to get this bridge done.’ In fact, one local journalist - and I'm not sure if it's one of you - wrote at the time of the visit, ‘Here we go again.’  

So, there's been a lot of waiting, a lot of promises here and across the country. Infrastructure weeks - as they were called - that came and went without result, which is why that skepticism happened. 

If words could build bridges, we would have got this done a long time ago.  

But talk doesn't build bridges.  

Funding does.  

Cooperation between different political parties and levels of government does. 

And on those fronts, the leaders you see here, and our President Joe Biden, are delivering. 

We heard loud and clear that our generational moment of investment in America's transportation infrastructure has to mean a generational investment here in Southwest Louisiana, and that is why less than two years since President Biden was here drawing attention to this bridge and America's infrastructure needs, we are so proud to award $150 million to help Louisiana build a new Calcasieu Bridge for future generations. 

[Applause] 

That new bridge is going to be wider, with six lanes, shoulders, a less steep approach, improved on-ramps, and over the lifespan of that new bridge, it's estimated to save people about 115 million hours in travel time. It's projected to have 457 fewer crashes in this area because of those new designs. 457 times a family is not going to have to get that phone call. The nature of safety work is its most successful moments are things that don't happen, so you never know the names of the people who will be spared that terrible, terrible phone call, but it could well be one of us. 

It's also going to help with those extreme weather evacuations, going to allow first responders to get to where they need to be more swiftly and more safely. And the benefits go well beyond where we're standing - to shelves across Louisiana, across the country. This new bridge is relieving one of the worst freight bottlenecks in America, along one of the most important supply chain routes in America, so that goods can move quicker - and that is part of our fight against inflation. 

As I mentioned earlier, to build a bridge, you need funding, and you also need a lot of skill, you need a lot of work. This bridge project is going to lead to over 16,000 jobs. And companies are going to be required to submit plans for training and hiring from the local community, making sure underserved populations get included in that opportunity. And this is just one example of the MEGA Projects Fund that was created by President Biden's infrastructure law.  

We just finished that first years' worth of funding and I want to make sure you know, just as a point of pride how competitive this round was. We got 138 applications, and we were able to fund nine successful projects, including this one. So, it reflects very well on everybody who was part of putting this plan together. 

And there is a direct line, a cause-and-effect, between that that bill that Senator Cassidy and Representative Carter voted for, and the shovels that are going to be in the ground building this new bridge. And I've noticed even the members of Congress who did not vote for this bill have been very happy to see the benefits of the projects coming to their neighborhood.  

And this isn't just the only thing we're funding in this area. We awarded funds just last week, as was mentioned, to help the City of Lake Charles develop designs to make the road safer. I want to thank the mayor and the city for their commitment to safety, along with the state.  

Last year, we awarded funds to build two new passenger boarding bridges at Lake Charles Regional Airport.  

And those are just a handful of 20,000 good projects underway across the country.  

That is what President Biden's vision for Building a Better America looks like.  

It's part of that strategy to build our economy from the bottom up and the middle out, and the strategy is working.  

I had the privilege of a front row seat - actually the second-row seat, but still pretty good - on Tuesday night as the President described to the country what has been achieved; unemployment the lowest it's been in 54 years, union membership growing again, wages up, inflation down, and as a child of the industrial Midwest, I'm especially glad to see how manufacturing is coming roaring back in this country. 800,000 new manufacturing jobs created since President Biden took office, a number that's going to go further with investments in industries that are growing, including jobs coming to Vidalia with a new EV battery manufacturing plant.  

Those American-made products, built in America, made in America, sold in America and around the world, are now going to move across stronger supply chains like the new Calcasieu Bridge. 

We are literally building the future of this country and now we've got to finish the job. We are in the business of building bridges - literal and figurative - that are going to make us and future generations better off. 

So, I'm so glad that we can be here to mark this milestone together. Congratulations, and thanks to everybody who got us here, and thanks in advance for the hard work that is going to come so that we can come back here for ribbon-cutting and celebrate an excellent, completed project.  

Thank you again for the chance to be here. 

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