COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — The bridge collapse in Pittsburgh dominated the agenda this weekend at the National Governor's Association Winter Meeting in Washington DC. Governors from around 30 states, including Colorado, are attending the event.
The 50-year-old Fern Hollow bridge fell on Friday morning in Pittsburgh, sending a bus and other vehicles crashing into a ravine. Ten people were injured, four of them hospitalized. A team from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Pittsburgh on Saturday to investigate the collapse.
A study published in 2021 by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association found that 220,000 bridges in the US (approximately 36 percent of all bridges in the country) are in need of major repair work or should be replaced.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with the governors at the NGA meeting about how to make the most of new federal funds authorized for road and bridge projects under the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Governor Jared Polis said it's important for Colorado to maximize the money available to our state.
"The federal government passed a big bi-partisan infrastructure package, and we passed in Colorado a bipartisan infrastructure package," Polis said. "Let's make sure we get the most value out of that for everyday Coloradans."
This is the first in-person meeting for the NGA since the pandemic. The three-day event wraps up on Monday.
