WASHINGTON- President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act into law on Monday afternoon.
The state of Delaware is expecting to receive a large amount of money from the bill. More than $1 billion is expected to go toward transportation improvements throughout the state and hundreds of millions of dollars for clean waters projects, broadband and climate change initiatives.
Delaware Department of Transportation spokesman C.R. McLeod said DelDOT plans to invest those funds in improving infrastructure while focusing on resilency and electrification.
"It's definitely a good thing for Delaware with this extra money coming in," McLeod said. "We have a lot of projects and a lot of infrastructure needs across our state. This money will only help us accomplish getting those projects done to keep our transportation system well maintained and as safe as possible."
Delaware can expect to funds to go towards:
- Upgrades to roads and bridges
- More electric vehicle charging stations
- Improvements to public transportation
- Enhancement to broadband
- Clean water cleanup
- Airport infrastructure
- Protection against wildfires
- Protection from cyberattacks
Some Delawareans say these improvements are long overdue. Mallory Lemin of Lewes, Del., said she's happy to hear the roads in Sussex County will be improved.
"So I think we could make like I don't know more roads or new roads or just expand the roads that we already have, I think that would be great," Lemin said.
Not all Delawareans feel the same as Lemin. Frank Laudeman, of Rehoboth Beach, said he is skeptical on how the money will be dispersed.
"Will it?" Laudeman asked. "It's supposed to, but will it? Nothing ever goes to where its supposed to go 100%. That's another problem we have in this country right now."
For more information on how the money will be distributed nationally, click here.