WASHINGTON – As part of the Biden-Harris Administration's Investing in America agenda, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured infrastructure projects underway in Central Pennsylvania thanks to funding from President Biden’s Infrastructure Law and heard from workers about how the President’s investments in our infrastructure are benefitting their communities and careers.
The Secretary began his trip in Lancaster, where he took a walking tour guided by Mayor Danene Sorace. On the tour, he saw how federal dollars headed to Lancaster thanks to DOT’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program, a part of the BIL, will be used to improve roadway safety for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, and help the community reduce roadway fatalities.
Secretary Buttigieg then headed to Steelton where he visited our nation’s oldest continually operating steel mill and hosted a news conference alongside Governor Josh Shapiro. Secretary Buttigieg toured the facility and talked with the workers manufacturing American-made steel that will be used in infrastructure projects across the country.
At the steel mill, workers and mill leadership highlighted how the growing demand for American-made steel products, thanks to an increase in infrastructure projects across the country because of President Biden’s Infrastructure Law, is increasing profit, adding jobs, and growing the local economy in Central Pennsylvania and nationwide.
To close out his time in the region, Secretary Buttigieg stopped by the Harrisburg International Airport alongside Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams to see progress on various improvement projects underway at the airport.
Thanks to investments made possible because of the President’s Infrastructure Package, the Harrisburg airport is using federal dollars to help people get their goods more quickly by expanding the cargo facilities and improving the passenger experience at the airport by replacing six passenger boarding bridges and updating an outdated baggage handling system.
See below to see what they’re saying about the Secretary’s visit:
PennLive – Patriot News: Steelton plant showcases how $1 trillion infrastructure law reaps benefits for Pa.
Buttigieg said the facility is showing “how to write a better story and multiply the possibilities for economic growth” as a result of this significant investment in the nation’s infrastructure.
The plant manager attested to that. Carlisle said the bipartisan infrastructure law for the Steelton plant “gives us a strong order book and continues our success as a company. So we get to make more steel, more profitability, more investment. And we get to hire more people.”
The nation's top transportation official first visited Lancaster to highlight how federal funding has been used to create bike lanes and other improvements. Buttigieg then visited the Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill to speak about steps by the Biden administration to triple tariffs on Chinese steel products.
Buttigieg said that move would help steel producers in the United States compete, especially given increased demand from builders for projects funded by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
WPMT FOX43: U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visits Lancaster, Dauphin Counties
The investments, which total roughly $1.6 trillion, have come largely through measures such as the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Buttigieg says the investments will allow places like the Steelton plant, which opened in 1868 and has contributed to projects such as the Golden Gate Bridge, to be a part of the new wave of infrastructure projects to come.
WPMT FOX43: VIDEO: Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg discuss future of Pennsylvania
WHTM ABC27: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visits Lancaster, Harrisburg area
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is in Central Pennsylvania on Tuesday making multiple stops across the region.
Buttigieg participated in several events throughout the day with local and state officials highlighting infrastructure projects and meeting with workers. He started the day in Lancaster with a walking tour along with Mayor Danene Sorace learning about plans to make streets safer.
WHTM ABC27: Transportation Secretary Buttigieg crisscrosses Central Pennsylvania
“Help is on the way,” said Buttigieg. “You see the condition of our railroads, our bridges, our airports, you name it. They’ve gone 30 or 40 years without the kind of investment they need.”
Buttigieg says residents will be seeing the benefits of the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed by President Biden, which approved billions of dollars for projects across the country.
CBS12: Secretary Pete Buttigieg highlights PA's national impact on infrastructure
Buttigieg said federal investments into Pennsylvania are creating a baseline for the nation’s future when it comes to tackling infrastructure.
“Pennsylvania has really stood out in terms of the work that's been done on everything from crisis like 95 to long-term plans about how to improve bridges, airports, transit for the future,” Buttigieg said.
So far, Pennsylvania has received over $16 billion dollars from the Infrastructure Act.
LancasterOnline: US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg praises Lancaster bike lanes during visit to city
On Tuesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited Splits & Giggles at 500 W. Lemon St. with city and state officials to see the changes firsthand.
Buttigieg was in town to look at pedestrian safety efforts which are currently underway and will expand thanks to a $12.7 million grant awarded to the city by his department last year.
The Keystone: Pete Buttigieg promotes American-made steel while visiting Harrisburg area
“Every time somebody boards a subway or streetcar or railcar riding on rails built with Steelton steel, they are better off and safer because of the quality of what you do here,” Buttigieg said to the plant’s workers.
Pennsylvania has received over $16.7 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with more than $11 billion going to improving roads, bridges, public transportation, rail and airports.
WENY News: DOT Secretary Promotes Infrastructure Supply Chains
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act has been at work across America since its passage in 2021. Today, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited a steel plant near Harrisburg to highlight the supply chain aspect of the law. He spoke afterward on the importance of using American made products in the hundreds of infrastructure projects the Department of Transportation is funding across the country.
WITF: VIDEO: US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg praises Lancaster bike lanes during visit
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