Biden plans to inspect Baltimore bridge collapse site Friday

President Joe Biden will visit Baltimore on Friday, days after a bridge collapse that killed six people and disrupted commerce.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, which had carried four lanes of highway traffic across the Patapsco River since 1977, collapsed on Tuesday after being struck by a 200 million-pound shipping barge.

The incident prompted the president to call for the federal government to pay for the “entire cost” of the bridge repair. A few days later, he teased that he would make a trip to the city this week, a visit that press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made official on Monday.

“President Biden will travel to Baltimore on Friday to visit the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge,” Jean-Pierre said at the White House press briefing. “He will meet with state and local officials and get an on-the-ground look at federal response efforts.”

Efforts are underway to clear crash debris in order to reopen Baltimore’s shipping port, with a 200-foot-long crane already on-site for the work. The first piece of wreckage was removed Saturday, Jean-Pierre said.

The government has also approved aid for nearby small businesses that will be affected by having shipping and automobile traffic routed away from the area. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su was in Baltimore on Monday to discuss the situation.

“As the president said within hours of the collapse, this administration will be with the people of Baltimore every step of the way,” Jean-Pierre said. “We are with the people of Baltimore, and we will be there until we get this done.”

Biden has been criticized for not visiting other disaster sites quickly, including East Palestine, Ohio, after last year’s toxic train derailment.

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The president said he was going to visit this week, but his initial public schedule did not include a trip to the bridge site.

Maryland will receive initial emergency relief of $60 million, but Jean-Pierre did not provide more information about when the administration will be making another supplemental funding request to Congress.