National Park Service may miss deadline to receive funding for Arlington Memorial Bridge repair

The Arlington Memorial Bridge is in need of major repairs with some even suggesting it should be shut down all together. But it appears the National Park Service could miss a critical deadline to receive millions of dollars in federal funding to fix the decaying bridge.

But as a midnight deadline draws closer at the end of Thursday to complete an application for the funding, there are new concerns that missing this deadline could greatly impact both the safety and future of the bridge.

These federal funds would go towards the $250 million needed for the project to repair the bridge.

Last year, FOX 5 went to the bridge and found an alarming amount of rusted steel beams and holes in some pylons that were two feet long.

National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis was here last spring sounding the alarm that unless repairs were made to the bridge that opened back in the 1930s, it could be closed to cars and become a footbridge because it would be too weak to carry the load of the 68,000 cars that cross it every day.

Capitol Hill sources told FOX 5 the park service never named a state sponsor for their application from either Washington D.C. or Virginia.

The National Park Service declined FOX 5's request for an interview about this deadline. A spokesperson said they are confident they have a good application, but would not say if they have D.C. or Virginia on board as a sponsor.

We have also learned Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has also stepped in on Thursday and he is trying to negotiate some sort of solution or extension for the bridge project funding.

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