{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-blumenthal-lamont-himes-and-courtney-announce-over-144-million-in-federal-funding-for-rail-bridges", "Murphy, Blumenthal, Lamont, Himes, & Courtney Announce Over $144 Million In Federal Funding For Rail BridgesRead More", "2020-10-23", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "HARTFORDU.S.\r\nSenators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard\r\nBlumenthal (D-CT), Governor Ned Lamont, U.S. Representatives Jim Himes (CT-4),\r\nand Joe Courtney (CT-2) today\r\nannounced that Connecticut has been awarded more than $144 million from the Federal-State\r\nPartnership for State of Good Repair Grant Program to help fund the replacement\r\nof the Walk Bridge in Norwalk and the Connecticut River Bridge between Old Lyme\r\nand Old Saybrook. The U.S. Department of Transportation funding we\r\nsecured today is big deal for Connecticut. The Walk Bridge and the Connecticut\r\nRiver Bridge are both over a century old, and they are major chokepoints on the\r\nNortheast Corridoraffecting travel within our state and well beyond our borders.\r\nConnecticut's economic competitiveness depends in large part on its connection\r\nto Boston and New York. This funding represents a big step towards modernizing\r\nthe Northeast Corridor, and I will continue to work to protect and enhance\r\nConnecticut's transportation infrastructure, said Murphy.\r\n\r\nThis $145 million grant will provide Connecticut with the urgently needed\r\nfunding to replace both the Walk Bridge and Connecticut River Bridge  vital\r\nstructures that have long outlived their intended lifespans. Rail passengers\r\nalong the Northeast Corridor deserve speedy and reliable service on Amtrak, New\r\nHaven Line, and Shoreline East. I will continue to fight for every federal\r\ndollar for Connecticut's rail and transportation infrastructure to help grow\r\nour state's economy, said\r\nBlumenthal. \r\nOne of Connecticut's many strengths is the state's access to rail and the\r\nmajor cities to our East and South. Fixing our aging bridges is about public\r\nsafety and speeding up our transportation system. Our Department of\r\nTransportation will do a great job in making these improvements for our rail\r\npassengers.Thank you to the Connecticut Congressional delegation for\r\ntheir support of the state'sapplications, said Lamont. The Walk Bridge is a critical juncture for commerce\r\ntraveling along the East Coast. But, for too long, we've been trying to\r\naccommodate a 21st Century economy with 19th Century technology. Securing these\r\nfunds has been a top priority of ours because we need critical infrastructure\r\ninvestment to keep Connecticut thriving and competitive for years to come, said Himes. Today's\r\nannouncement of a long overdue modernization of the Old Saybrook bridge is\r\ncritical to ensure passenger safety and faster transit of rail service. As the\r\nregion knows, the existing structure has long outlived its life span. The\r\nupgrade will also provide a shot in the arm to the building trades and I look\r\nforward to working with Federal Rail to target local contractors and skilled\r\nworkers when the time comes to award this sizable contract, said Courtney. The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), in\r\npartnership with Amtrak, was awarded $79.7 million in federal funds to assist\r\nwith replacing the existing movable Norwalk (Walk) River Bridge, built in 1896,\r\nwith two independent two-track vertical lift rail bridges in Norwalk,\r\nConnecticut, including supporting rehabilitation work on the bridge approach\r\nembankments and retaining walls, installation of new catenary structures, and\r\nsignal system upgrades. Amtrak, in partnership with CTDOT was awarded $65.2\r\nmillion in federal fund to assist with replacing the existing, 113-year-old\r\nConnecticut River Bridge with a modern and resilient new moveable bridge\r\nimmediately to the south of the existing structure. The replacement bridge\r\nwould maintain the two-track configuration and existing channel location, and\r\nprovide a bascule moveable span with additional vertical clearance for maritime\r\ntraffic. Murphy, Blumenthal and Himes sent a letter\r\nin support of funding for the Walk Bridge. Murphy, Blumenthal and Courtney sent a letter\r\nin support of funding for the Connecticut River Bridge. ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-blumenthal-lamont-himes-and-courtney-announce-over-144-million-in-federal-funding-for-rail-bridges"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8096431158483028, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}