Mitch Landrieu, a former mayor of New Orleans and now a senior advisor and infrastructure coordinator for the Biden administration, was in Conshohocken and West Conshohocken on April 21st.
Landrieu, along with Representative Madeleine Dean and CEO and General Manager Leslie Richards, made a video at the site of the currently under-construction SEPTA train station in Conshohocken.
Great to join @RepDean & @SEPTA CEO @_LeslieRichards to see how @POTUS’ Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering for Conshohocken, PA. This new train station will be a game-changer for local communities – they’ll get to work or downtown Philadelphia with ease. pic.twitter.com/JFPEtAoEjG
— Mitch Landrieu (@MitchLandrieu46) April 21, 2023
Landrieu was also in West Conshohocken where a bridge carrying Woodmont Street crosses over Arrowmink Creek.
Bridges connect us all – to economic opportunity, to essential services & to one another.
— Mitch Landrieu (@MitchLandrieu46) April 21, 2023
4600 bridge repair & replacement projects are underway nationwide & today, I joined @RepDean at the Woodmont Bridge in West Conshohocken to see firsthand the importance of investing in PA. pic.twitter.com/84QzmtyYgW
The train station project in Conshohocken existed prior to the Biden administration. For example, the construction of the train station in Conshohocken was already underway in April 2021. MoreThanTheCurve.com first reported on work being done on the new station as far back as 2019. The infrastructure bill was signed into law on November 15, 2021. SEPTA’s capital budgets leading up to 2021 show the train station project as funded.
From the Fiscal Year 2017 Capital Budget:
In fact, the Fiscal Year 2017 Capital Budget specifically outlines where the money was coming from for capital improvements.
The FY 2017 capital budget and 12‐year capital program takes into account the new federal transportation funding authorization, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act; funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania generated by Act 89 legislation; as well as anticipated capital
financing.
The “Rebuilding the System” program was initiated following the enactment of a long‐term state transportation funding solution under Act 89. To bring SEPTA’s assets to a state of good repair, the Authority is rehabilitating and replacing critical infrastructure and systems, such as substations, bridges and stations.
While it is likely that the new source of funding replaced or was mixed with the existing funding, the station in Conshohocken was already under construction and going forward (with or without the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill).
Photo: Screengrab from Mitch Landrieu’s video