Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday said it was “too soon” to provide an estimate for how long it will take to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge and reopen the Port of Baltimore. “Reopening the port is a different matter from rebuilding the bridge,” he told reporters. “The port, that’s just a matter of clearing the channel. Still no simple thing, but I would expect that can happen on a much quicker timeline than the full reconstruction of the bridge.” President Biden called on officials to work as quickly as possible to reopen the port and said he wants the federal government to pay for the entire reconstruction of the bridge, which collapsed early Tuesday morning when a cargo ship rammed into one of its support beams. “Certainly, we have a clear direction from the president to tear down any barriers — bureaucratic as well as financial — that could affect the timeline of this project,” Secretary Buttigieg said. While there are some federal funds immediately available, rebuilding the bridge will likely require additional appropriations from Congress, and Secretary Buttigieg called on lawmakers to work in a bipartisan manner to get it done. “Infrastructure is — or at least ought to be — a bipartisan priority,” he said. “I would also remind any member who might find themselves on the fence when any request that might come through materialized that today this is happening in Baltimore, tomorrow it could be your district. And we really need to stand together — red, blue and purple — to get these things done.” #dot #transportation #petebuttigieg #keybridge #portofbaltimore #baltimore #cspan