Bridges and roads are important, but multi-generational community wealth making machines are even more important. Assist local economic/political alliances to use county bond measures to borrow (locally sourced investment dollars) to create businesses where capital is treated as a common pool resource -- with community hired executives, checks and balances, separation of powers, and representative democracy.
Progressive big government helped pull our nation out of the Great Depression, but Americans do not seem to have a passion for that today. Progressive big business however, where communities can hire (& fire) the executive management, and the distribution of the profits is democratically decided, is something that people get excited about.
see Governing the Commons by Elinor Ostrom