������ý

WASHINGTON — Mike Pence, just days ahead of being sworn in as the country’s new vice president, assured hundreds gathered for the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting that Donald Trump will follow through with an infrastructure plan.

Americans want a federal infrastructure program to focus on rebuilding aging roads and bridges, but are reluctant to use federal dollars for such projects, according to a Reuters poll released Jan. 19.

Bridges and highway infrastructure in poor condition contributes to traffic congestion that often delays trucks along freight corridors, the U.S. Department of Transportation determined in a recent report.

President-elect Donald Trump’s “massive” infrastructure plan probably will come “sometime this summer,” Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said at an aviation industry lunch in Washington.

Transportation officials from Rhode Island, Maryland and Idaho were among the applicants seeking federal grants to help pay for improvements to critical freight corridors in their states.

President-elect Trump proposes to rebuild U.S. roads, bridges, ports and other public works projects with a $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan as the country faces a shortage of skilled laborers. 

If President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to tap private investors to build infrastructure projects over the next 10 years is adopted by Congress, new tolling facilities are likely to take off along busy freight corridors, tolling proponents and several transportation groups said in recent interviews with Transport Topics.

Vermont is Bernie Sanders’ home state, but its governor-elect is hardly in the former Democratic presidential candidate’s tax and spend model. Speaking to the Vermont Petroleum Association on Dec. 7, Republican Phil Scott said he wants to rebuild the state’s infrastructure but without raising taxes. 

Determining the most efficient way for boosting funds for new and existing infrastructure projects will be a top priority for the Republican-led U.S. House next year, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Dec. 5.