Contact: Ernie Blazar 202.224.7627 Shana Stribling 202.224.0309
Monday, February 3, 2003

HERMANN, MO - Senator Kit Bond today announced that Congress is poised to approve an additional $5 million for construction of the Route 19 Missouri River Bridge at Hermann. Bond secured the funds for this project in the fiscal 2003 Omnibus Appropriations bill which has already been approved by the full Senate. Next, a joint Senate-House version of the bill must be approved.

"I'm pleased I could secure funding for such a worthwhile project," said Bond, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "These dollars are good news for Missourians who travel and depend on the Herman Bridge."

The Hermann Bridge project began in 1997 with the formation of a local Bridge Committee to address the need for a new bridge. The current bridge, almost seventy years old, with open sides, two lanes and no shoulders, is a dangerous, yet necessary bridge for a number of Missourians. Bond secured the first federal funds for the project in 1998 when he won $6 million for construction of the bridge. The fiscal year 2003 funds bring the amount Senator Bond secured for the bridge project to $11 million in federal dollars.

Bond also briefed local leaders on his new role as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Transportation subcommittee which is in charge of rewriting the federal highway bill. That legislation is a kind of blueprint that directs where and how billions of dollars from the Federal Highway Trust will be spent in Missouri and the other 49 states. The rewriting of this bill occurs once every six years.

"While there are no easy answers, I hope we can improve Missouri's position in the highway bill. To do that, it is vital that Missourians of all stripes – Democrat, Republican, rural and urban – pull together. " Bond cautioned that the reauthorization directs national, not local transportation priorities, and that any bill must win wide Senate approval, a task not easily accomplished. While Bond's goal is to increase Missouri's share of federal transportation funds, it is the state's jobs to identify and budget for specific projects.

Kit Bond is Missouri’s senior Senator and is now in his third term after having served the state previously during two terms as Governor.