10th Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis

“Our bridges need work and so do we!” That’s what unemployed folks and activists were chanting yesterday at nearly a dozen bridges around the country, where they gathered to draw attention to America’s crumbling infrastructure and call on Congress to pass the American Jobs Act. The rallies in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle were held at the same time President Obama visited the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati to drive home the need to fix our bridges and put America back to work. More rallies at bridges will take place next week.

One of every nine highway bridges in America – a total of nearly 70,000 bridges – is “structurally deficient” and in need of significant maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement. (If you want to find out which bridges in your area are unsafe, check out this interactive map created by Transportation for America. http://t4america.org/resources/bridges/)

Included in the American Jobs Act proposed by President Obama is a plan to invest $50 billion rebuilding our roads and bridges, which would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Meanwhile, our nation currently spends nearly that amount – $40 billion – on unnecessary oil and gas subsidies.

Brooklyn Bridge in New York

“We have a clear choice to make,” said Adam McGrier, a homebuilder in Detroit who desperately needs work. “We can invest in rebuilding our infrastructure – which will reduce unemployment and make our country more competitive in the global economy – or we can keep giving billions of dollars worth of tax loopholes to oil companies.”

Congress needs to pass the American Jobs Act now. Here’s how you can help make it happen: Take a picture of a deficient bridge in your area (see this interactive map), upload it on this site, and send Congress a clear message to put America back to work now.