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Washington, DC -- Today, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) joined President Joe Biden at the White House as he signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law.

“For decades, our roads, bridges, rail, and other infrastructure have suffered from a lack of investment, and Virginia families are paying the price,” said Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton. “Our bipartisan infrastructure bill will improve the lives of Virginians by fixing roads and public transportation to reduce commute times and deliver broadband to every community, while creating good-paying jobs right here in the Commonwealth. It was an honor to join President Biden at the White House today as this historic legislation was signed into law.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will:

• Repair and rebuild roads and bridges: In Virginia there are 577 bridges and over 2,124 miles of highway in poor condition. Commute times have increased by 7.7% in Virginia since 2011, and, on average, each driver pays $517 per year in costs due to driving on roads in need of repair. Virginia would expect to receive $7 billion for federal-aid highway apportioned programs and $537 million for bridge replacement and repairs over five years.

• Investments in sustainable public transportation: Virginians who take public transportation spend an extra 72.2% of their time commuting, and non-White households are 1.6 times more likely to commute via public transportation. 10% of trains and other transit vehicles in the commonwealth are past useful life. Virginia would expect to receive $1.2 billion over five years to improve public transportation options across the state.

• Universal broadband: 9.7% of Virginians live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds, and 39.4% of Virginians live in areas where there is only one such internet provider. Even where infrastructure is available, broadband may be too expensive to be within reach. 13.3% of Virginia households do not have an internet subscription. Virginia will receive at least $100 million to improve broadband coverage across the commonwealth, providing access to the at least 473,000 Virginians who currently lack it. More than 1.9 million people, or 23% of Virginians, will be eligible for the Affordability Connectivity Benefit to help low-income families afford internet access.

• The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also makes major investments in our airports, electric vehicle infrastructure, climate change resiliency, and clean drinking water. 

The full fact sheet on how the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will deliver for Virginia is available here.

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