U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall heralded the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration’s release of $130 million in flood-recovery funds to Colorado to repair roads and highways damaged in the September 2013 flood. Udall and Bennet successfully secured the funds for Colorado last year by lifting a cap on resources Colorado could access to repair damaged infrastructure.
“When the floodwaters receded last September, it was clear that these communities were in store for a long recovery progress. That’s why we fought to increase the cap on emergency highway funding for Colorado,” Bennet said. “This aid is crucial to the ongoing efforts to rebuild our roads and bridges stronger than before. We will continue to fight for the resources every community needs to recover.”
“I was proud to lead the effort to ensure Colorado had the federal resources it needed to rebuild smarter and stronger in the wake of the devastating September 2013 flood and subsequent government shutdown. These funds will ensure Colorado can continue its recovery and safeguard critical roads, bridges and highways from future disasters,” Udall said. “Although this is a significant vistory, we are far from finished. I will keep working every day to support Colorado’s continued recovery efforts.”
The funds will allow the Colorado Department of Transportation to continue working on flood-related projects in the state during this construction season. The Colorado Department of Transportation also received a $2 million grant through the Emergency Relief program to repair areas on federal lands damaged in the January 2014 rockfall on US Hwy 550 in Ouray County.
Bennet and Udall have led efforts to secure recovery aid for Colorado communities and families devastated by recent disasters, including legislation providing families common-sense tax relief. Bennet and Udall also led efforts to secure federal aid to restore watersheds damaged by the recent mega-fires and to secure more than $320 million from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program to finance ongoing flood recovery work in Colorado.