MLIVE: McDonald Rivet funding request includes Flint area demolitions, upgraded Bridgeport Twp. fire station

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet is asking Congress to earmark more than $3.6 million for five projects in the 8th Congressional District -- each of them aimed at bolstering infrastructure in the area.

“Our infrastructure needs to be rock solid if we want mid-Michigan to attract the kinds of investments that bring good-paying jobs to the region,” McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, said in a statement released by her office on Tuesday, Aug. 12. “On top of that, people deserve to know the roads and bridges they drive on are safe.”

McDonald Rivet requested funding for the 2026 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, through the congressional community project funding initiative.

The requests must survive multiple rounds of the federal budgeting process before funding can be secured.

The projects are:

• $866,000 for repairs and expansion of the Bridgeport Township fire station. The project is designed to help firefighters respond to fires more quickly and efficiently and to help protect them from carcinogens and biohazards.
• $850,000 for the Genesee County Land Bank Authority to carry out demolitions of blighted and hazardous structures across Genesee County.
• $850,000 for the rehabilitation of State Park Drive, a main route through Bangor Township to the Saginaw Bay. The request is from the Bay County Road Commission and plans include improved signs, defined commercial access points, and improved sidewalks.
• $850,000 for the replacement of the Frances Road Bridge over the Butternut Creek in Thetford and Genesee townships. The bridge was closed last November because of safety concerns.
• $250,000 for a Saginaw Valley State University project to develop more than 200 acres of land next to the university.

McDonald Rivet was elected to Congress in 2024, replacing former Congressman Dan Kildee, a Flint Township Democrat who did not seek re-election.

Since her election, the congresswoman, a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, has also announced a $4.6-million grant for MBS Airport, a $4.9-million grant for Bishop Airport in Flint, and nearly $12 million for Flint’s Mass Transportation Authority.