Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego discusses how Infrastructure bill will affect city of Phoenix

As we heard, the infrastructure bill will impact Arizona in a variety of ways. To learn how the infusion of money will specifically impact municipalities, Phoenix in particular, we spoke with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. 

“Phoenix has been America’s fastest growing big city and we have to keep investing to keep up with growth, I think our residents will see tangible changes that will make a difference in the way they move about, much of the funding is by competition so we have to apply for grants but we believe Phoenix is in a great position,” Gallego said.

Gallego says Phoenix residents should expect to see upgrades in airports, transit systems such as the lightrail, and upgraded older bridges and infrastructure in Phoenix.

There is no exact number yet for how much Phoenix will get from the bill, most of the money will go straight to Arizona. Much funding for Phoenix will be allocated on the basis of competitive grants.

Phoenix had already been applying for grants to bring better broadband access to communities that don’t have this, and Mayor Gallego says she is hopeful this bill will make it easier for these to come to these communities.

Gallego says climate mitigation was a part of these talks for forward thinking aspects of the bill as well.

“There is advanced research and transportation technology and we expect a lot of that to happen in partnership with Arizona State University. There’s also some of the oldest solutions in the book, you and I have talked about in the past but there’s significant funding for tree planting and they’re really looking to do it in ways that impact people in communities who benefit the most from shade,” Gallego said.