U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy said fixing the nation's bridges should be a top priority.

On Thursday, Murphy toured one local bridge that's labeled structurally deficient.

It's easy to see why the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation calls the bridge over Turtle Creek into Trafford structurally deficient. There are cracks and rust on columns and exposed rebar.

"Every single one of those concrete piers has big cracks in it," Murphy said. "I'd like to know what the security of that bridge is now."

PennDOT said the bridge is safe even though its rating on a scale of zero to 100 is 35. That low rating came as a surprise to a Trafford borough councilman.

"It's a concern, believe me," said Councilman Richard Laird. "I didn't know it was that low. PennDOT hadn't gotten back to us on that."

PennDOT told WTAE Channel 4 Action News the bridge would be rehabilitated in three years at a cost of $7 million.

Murphy said Congress needs to find money to fix the thousands of bridges that are just as bad if not worse.

"Our first priority is that they're safe for travelers to be on and then put them in priority of what needs to be repaired," Murphy said. "It's clear we're talking about a massive amount of money, federal and state funds to fix this."

Locals who use the Trafford bridge said they don't care where the money comes from. They just want to be sure their bridge is safe.

Murphy would not say whether a tax increase might be necessary to fix all the broken bridges. He did say Congress first needs to look at getting rid of all the pork barrel spending projects.

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