Congressman Cohen Commends Biden Administration’s Approach to Hernando DeSoto Bridge Closure

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today commended the Biden Administration for its efforts to address the cracked span of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge and the resulting diversion of traffic to the Interstate 55 Tennessee-Arkansas Bridge in Memphis. The major disruption in the third-busiest freight corridor in the United States led the Administration to send Acting Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Administrator Stephanie Pollock to Memphis on Thursday, a move indicating the situation is being taken seriously at the highest levels of government.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"I'm pleased that Acting Highway Administrator Pollock has focused on this major interstate disruption and its traffic and economic consequences with a hands-on, fact-finding visit to Memphis. I have pledged to do all I can to assist the federal, state and local governments in the region to make the necessary resources available so that normal traffic patterns can be restored as soon as possible. Although I'm in Washington and can't meet with her today, I welcome Acting Administrator Pollock to Memphis and hope she has productive meetings with stakeholders and other state and government officials."