INVESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY

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Dear John,

Like many of you, I am following the aftermath of Hurricane Milton with concern for our friends in Florida. Having seen the devastation across parts of Florida and at least three other states wrought by Hurricane Helene just two weeks ago, it’s clear that major storm impacts and damage aren’t limited to certain parts of the country anymore.

We saw this up close with Hurricane Ida in late August 2021, which made landfall first in Cuba before ultimately causing deadly and destructive flooding in the mid-Atlantic and northeast, including here in our community. As a result, we had significant and costly work to restore roads, replace or repair bridges, and help our neighbors dig out and shore up their homes.

In November of 2021, I voted to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a law designed specifically to invest in roads, bridges, transportation safety, modernized transit, and power infrastructure across the United States. Our district has already received more than $60 million of IIJA funds, and I recently had the opportunity to visit a few projects to check in on the progress and talk with the folks responsible for delivering them to you.

I went to the site of the Rudolph and Arthur Covered Bridge near Lincoln University, which Hurricane Ida washed away. This $4.1 million project is fully funded by IIJA. I was able to see the foundational structure and talk with the engineers and contractors building the new bridge and cover, which will look very similar to its historic predecessor but will be built to today’s safety standards to weather future storms.

I also went to two new “roundabouts” or rotaries in our district designed to handle increased truck and car traffic and ease congestion at major intersections. I visited the site at PA 41 and 926 in Cochranville, a $6.3 million project fully funded by IIJA. This is a large roundabout with a new truck apron to give larger vehicles the room they need to navigate the intersections safely (PennDot has a great video about how to drive through a roundabout here !). Additionally, the recently completed Manor Road roundabout at Reeceville Road in Coatesville, a $1.5 million IIJA project, will improve traffic flow and efficiency in this busy area.

These are just three of the dozens of improvement projects we were able to make possible through the IIJA throughout our district. Some others include widening U.S. 1 in East Marlborough and Kennett Borough, bypass safety improvements on U.S. 322 in West Goshen Township, bridge replacement on Watermark Road in Upper Oxford Township, the Boot Road bridge replacement in East Caln Township, and the slope failure repair on SR 322 in West Goshen Township.

These projects — and voting for the funding that made them possible — don’t grab the headlines, but they are vital to the safety and well-being of our community, and I’m proud to have helped make them possible for the people and businesses in our district. I’m also proud to see so many of our local contractors and members of the skilled trades working across the Commonwealth and improving the efficiency of our infrastructure.

SPEAKING OF WEATHER:

Some of you have called or emailed me asking if I am doing anything for our friends in the south. I have consistently supported relief efforts by voting for FEMA funding in our annual appropriation bills. I will continue to do so in the future so states facing weather disasters, like Hurricane Helene or Milton, can get proper funding and resources to support their communities.

Unfortunately, due to federal ethics requirements, U.S. Congress members cannot hold official fundraisers or donation drives, and we cannot use government resources to support businesses or charities. Therefore, supporting government agencies such as FEMA is the best way for our office to support emergency relief.

A few weeks ago, Congress voted to fund the government, including $20 million to fund FEMA recovery efforts. If this funding did not pass, the recovery efforts in Helene-effected areas would not be moving as swiftly as they are now. You can find that bill here.

If you’re looking for more information on these extreme weather events and our government’s disaster response, we have compiled helpful resources, which can be found on my website here.

Natural disasters bring out the best in most of us as we try to figure out how to help the people most impacted by them. But they also create opportunities for scammers. While we don’t expect to be impacted by Milton, it’s important to remind everyone how to spot and report scams and misinformation. FEMA has compiled a rumor response page in order to help individuals, families, and communities stay safe after Hurricane Helene. You can find that page linked here.

Serving as our community's representative is the honor of my lifetime, and I hope to hear from you soon about any issue that concerns you.

As always, please contact my office if you need assistance.

Be well, and see you soon!

Chrissy Houlahan

U.S. Member of Congress

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