Bill advances to help fund municipal bridge repairs

It would give county leaders the power to approve bridge projects.

The Senate recently approved legislation to provide state funding for local bridge projects, giving counties the flexibility needed to make essential repairs to municipal bridges.

Senate Bill 205 is sponsored by Sen. Greg Rothman (R-34) and co-sponsored by Sens. Rosemary Brown (R40), Nick Miller (D-14), Timothy Kearney (D-26) and Pat Stefano (R-32).

Currently, state Motor License Fund dollars can be used to build and repair county bridges.

However, spending guidance fails to address whether funding can be used for municipal bridges located within a county.

As a result, municipal bridges often go without repair while bridge funding goes unused due to ambiguous guidance.

Senate Bill 205 would give counties the flexibility they need to fund local bridge projects.

The legislation expands on SB799 from 2024 and would expand on how counties can use transportation funds to benefit their residents.

Act 89 of 2013 amended Act 44 of 2007 by appropriating $5 million annually out of the Motor License Fund for county bridges.

Current guidance for how this money is spent specifically references “public bridges for which the county is legally responsible.” While the funds are being used to repair county- owned bridges, current spending guidance fails to note how the funds could be used for bridges owned by the municipalities within said counties.

“Maintaining safe roads and bridges is a core function of government,” Rothman said. “My legislation removes barriers and gives counties the flexibility they need to make necessary repairs to both county-owned and municipal- owned bridges.”

Across the state, municipal bridge infrastructure faces challenges related to age and condition, with a significant number of bridges considered structurally deficient.

In Allegheny County, there are a total of 186 bridges owned and maintained by local municipalities and the City of Pittsburgh, according to a 2008 report.

Allegheny County owns and maintains 518 bridges, while PennDOT owns the vast majority, 804.

In addition, the Port Authority of Allegheny County owns 33 bridges.

It’s important to note that the total number of bridges in the county is much higher, with some counts exceeding 2,000, including those under 20 feet in length, according to a 2012 blog post.

In Washington County, there was not an available report outlining the specific number of municipal bridges, but the county is responsible for 17 of 23 covered bridges in the county, which do fall under the category of municipal bridges.

Westmoreland County has 65 municipally owned bridges and one historic covered bridge.

According to PennDOT, data indicates there are 735 bridges in the county, with 143 in “poor” condition.

Of those, 78 are state-owned and 65 are locally owned.

Data for the number of municipal bridges in Fayette County was not available, but according to current county data there are 61 bridges that are maintained by the county, which are maintained by the Fayette County Bridge Department.

Pennsylvania has a large inventory of bridges, many of which are older than the national average.

According to America’s infrastructure report card for 2025, there are 623,218 bridges in the country, with an average age of about 47 years.

Many bridges are approaching or have exceeded the 50-year life they were designed for. However, despite lack of tuning they are still expected to withstand the impacts of a changing climate, continued maintenance challenges and higher traffic volumes and vehicle weights than they were built to support.

In 2024, 42.9% of state-owned bridges were in good condition, while 52.6% were rated fair and 4.4% were rated poor. Meanwhile, 45.3% of locally owned bridges were in good condition, 45.8% were rated fair, and another 8.9% were rated poor.

Although bridges in poor condition are not necessarily unsafe, they require replacement or significant rehabilitation work and present a higher risk of future closure or weight restrictions.

Bridges in Pennsylvania are owned and maintained by various entities, including PennDOT, counties, municipalities and railroads which can make coordination and funding complex.

SB205 could provide needed support. It unanimously passed in the Senate and was sent to the House Transportation Committee for review on June 25 for consideration.

If it passes, previous legislation would be amended to explicitly allow Act 44/89 funds to be used for both county and municipal bridges to increase driver safety and roadway quality.