Where o’ where will we find $7b?

From the Record:

Cost to fix N.J. bridges: $7B

It will cost up to $7 billion to fix hundreds of deteriorating bridges throughout New Jersey, Governor Corzine said Thursday.

Findings from an interim report by the state Department of Transportation indicate that 34 percent of the state’s 6,434 bridges are considered “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete.”

Still, officials said all of New Jersey’s bridges are safe.

Speaking in a parking lot at Exit 15E on the New Jersey Turnpike, officials said eight bridges are high priorities, including the 75-year-old Pulaski Skyway, which could be replaced, Corzine said.

“While we find [the Skyway] to be safe, it is of course one of many of concern as we try to move forward and try to prepare for the infrastructure of tomorrow,” added Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.

Corzine last week called on the DOT to prepare a safety status report of bridges in the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse. Seven people have been confirmed dead following the Interstate 35W bridge disaster and six others missing are presumed dead. More than a hundred were injured, many seriously.

The DOT’s Office of the Inspector General has been conducting unscheduled audits and investigations around the state, including seven bridges that have a structure similar to the Minneapolis truss-deck bridge. Among these is the Route 3 overpass in Passaic/Bergen, Corzine said.
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“The problem of replacing the bridge is definitely a complex one, but the solution is not,” Kolluri said. “We need money and lots of it. We need a billion dollars to do it.”

Officials said there needs to be aid from Washington.

“We need to be a partner with the federal government, and their resources need to flow,” Corzine said. “I don’t want to get into how the state will come up with these resources, but we will come up with those resources.”