In 2017, hundreds of
"Local Roads Matter" advocates rallied in Albany for increased state
aid for local roads, bridges and culverts.
A winter storm forced the cancellation of this year's rally this week,
but advocates and legislators are still calling on Governor Cuomo and
legislative leaders to increase state support.
A bipartisan group of 142 state legislators, organized by State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats) and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C,I-Corning), Thursday joined a statewide coalition of county and town highway superintendents and other local leaders to call for increased state support for local roads, bridges and culverts.
Approximately 700 local highway superintendents and highway department employees representing nearly every region of New York State have been in Albany this week as part of the annual “Local Roads Matter” advocacy campaign. As part of the effort for the past several years, O’Mara and Palmesano have organized a bipartisan group of state legislators in the Senate and Assembly who have joined the local roads representatives and other local leaders from across the state to call for increased state support for local roads, bridges and culverts.
This year’s “Local Roads Matter” coalition includes nearly 70% of the State Legislature’s entire membership. A news conference and rally previously scheduled to be held in The Well of the Legislative Office Building on Wednesday morning was cancelled due to the snowstorm forecast to impact counties along the north-south State Thruway corridor especially hard throughout today and into tomorrow. The local roads supporters highlighted the storm as another example of why the increased state funding they’re seeking is so critical -- and warranted.O’Mara, Palmesano and other state legislators are joining “Local Roads Matter” representatives, and other local leaders, this year to call for increasing state base aid for the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) by $85 million to a total of $523 million. They are also seeking the restoration of a $65-million “Extreme Winter Recovery” allocation enacted last year but not included in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed 2018-2019 state budget. Combined, this $150-million increase would bring total CHIPS aid in 2018-19 to $588.1 million.
In a February 28 letter to Cuomo and legislative leaders, O’Mara, Palmesano and their Senate and Assembly colleagues wrote, “We believe it is critically important to build on our past successes and renew our commitment to addressing the tremendous, unmet needs and challenges to maintain local roads, bridges, and culverts effectively in every region of New York State… This level of state assistance, at a minimum, has become central to providing the critical flexibility and funding that localities need to help meet their growing and challenging infrastructure demands.”
Beginning with the 2013-14 state budget, their efforts have helped increase funding through the CHIPS Program/Formula by more than $200 million, or upwards of 40%. Together with the PAVE-NY and BRIDGE-NY programs established two years ago, the programs are providing significant funding increases for counties, cities, towns and villages throughout New York State. In their own legislative districts, for example, O’Mara and Palmesano said that aid percentage increases since 2012-13 have ranged from 50% to 55%.
This year’s “Local Roads Matter” campaign is making the case for an even stronger state commitment to local roads, bridges and culverts. Supporters argue that CHIPS funding has become especially critical in an era for local governments defined by the local property tax cap, stagnant aid to municipalities (AIM) and shrinking local revenues. They note that municipalities own and maintain 87% of the roads in the state, own and maintain 52% of New York’s 18,000 bridges, and that 48% of the vehicle miles driven in the state are on local roads.
In their February 28 letter to the governor and legislative leaders, the “Local Roads Matter” legislative coalition stresses the urgency to “recognize that local governments continue to struggle to address budgetary demands in the face of the state-imposed property tax cap and freeze, rising pension and health care costs, unfunded state mandates, and stagnant Aid to Municipalities (AIM). This clearly demonstrates the incredible challenge facing our local municipalities to meet the critical investment level needed to maintain and improve local roads, bridges, and culverts. A stronger state-local partnership is the only answer.”
The legislative coalition adds that the “investment levels we are seeking, through the CHIPS, BRIDGE-NY, and PAVE-NY programs, will build on the foundation we have successfully made in the last several state budgets and further solidify our fundamental belief that ‘Local Roads Matter!’ Through the renewed, vigorous state investment we have outlined, we will finally move toward the safe and reliable local infrastructure we envision, an infrastructure that will serve as the catalyst for future economic development and job creation throughout our local communities.”
In an October 2017 report, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli estimated that bridges owned by local governments currently need an estimated $27.4 billion in repairs. An earlier report from the comptroller called 32% of New York’s local bridges deficient and 40% of local roads fair or poor, and getting worse. In a 2013 study, the state Association of Town Superintendents of Highways (NYSAOTSOH) estimated that New York would need to invest an additional $1.3 billion per year on local roads and bridges to prevent them from becoming deficient. A national transportation advocacy group, TRIP, has estimated that deteriorating roads cost New York motorists nearly an additional $25 billion annually – approximately $2,300 for the average driver in some areas -- in lost time, fuel costs, vehicle repairs and other expenses.
A bipartisan group of 142 state legislators, organized by State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats) and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C,I-Corning), Thursday joined a statewide coalition of county and town highway superintendents and other local leaders to call for increased state support for local roads, bridges and culverts.
Approximately 700 local highway superintendents and highway department employees representing nearly every region of New York State have been in Albany this week as part of the annual “Local Roads Matter” advocacy campaign. As part of the effort for the past several years, O’Mara and Palmesano have organized a bipartisan group of state legislators in the Senate and Assembly who have joined the local roads representatives and other local leaders from across the state to call for increased state support for local roads, bridges and culverts.
This year’s “Local Roads Matter” coalition includes nearly 70% of the State Legislature’s entire membership. A news conference and rally previously scheduled to be held in The Well of the Legislative Office Building on Wednesday morning was cancelled due to the snowstorm forecast to impact counties along the north-south State Thruway corridor especially hard throughout today and into tomorrow. The local roads supporters highlighted the storm as another example of why the increased state funding they’re seeking is so critical -- and warranted.O’Mara, Palmesano and other state legislators are joining “Local Roads Matter” representatives, and other local leaders, this year to call for increasing state base aid for the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) by $85 million to a total of $523 million. They are also seeking the restoration of a $65-million “Extreme Winter Recovery” allocation enacted last year but not included in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed 2018-2019 state budget. Combined, this $150-million increase would bring total CHIPS aid in 2018-19 to $588.1 million.
In a February 28 letter to Cuomo and legislative leaders, O’Mara, Palmesano and their Senate and Assembly colleagues wrote, “We believe it is critically important to build on our past successes and renew our commitment to addressing the tremendous, unmet needs and challenges to maintain local roads, bridges, and culverts effectively in every region of New York State… This level of state assistance, at a minimum, has become central to providing the critical flexibility and funding that localities need to help meet their growing and challenging infrastructure demands.”
Beginning with the 2013-14 state budget, their efforts have helped increase funding through the CHIPS Program/Formula by more than $200 million, or upwards of 40%. Together with the PAVE-NY and BRIDGE-NY programs established two years ago, the programs are providing significant funding increases for counties, cities, towns and villages throughout New York State. In their own legislative districts, for example, O’Mara and Palmesano said that aid percentage increases since 2012-13 have ranged from 50% to 55%.
This year’s “Local Roads Matter” campaign is making the case for an even stronger state commitment to local roads, bridges and culverts. Supporters argue that CHIPS funding has become especially critical in an era for local governments defined by the local property tax cap, stagnant aid to municipalities (AIM) and shrinking local revenues. They note that municipalities own and maintain 87% of the roads in the state, own and maintain 52% of New York’s 18,000 bridges, and that 48% of the vehicle miles driven in the state are on local roads.
In their February 28 letter to the governor and legislative leaders, the “Local Roads Matter” legislative coalition stresses the urgency to “recognize that local governments continue to struggle to address budgetary demands in the face of the state-imposed property tax cap and freeze, rising pension and health care costs, unfunded state mandates, and stagnant Aid to Municipalities (AIM). This clearly demonstrates the incredible challenge facing our local municipalities to meet the critical investment level needed to maintain and improve local roads, bridges, and culverts. A stronger state-local partnership is the only answer.”
The legislative coalition adds that the “investment levels we are seeking, through the CHIPS, BRIDGE-NY, and PAVE-NY programs, will build on the foundation we have successfully made in the last several state budgets and further solidify our fundamental belief that ‘Local Roads Matter!’ Through the renewed, vigorous state investment we have outlined, we will finally move toward the safe and reliable local infrastructure we envision, an infrastructure that will serve as the catalyst for future economic development and job creation throughout our local communities.”
In an October 2017 report, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli estimated that bridges owned by local governments currently need an estimated $27.4 billion in repairs. An earlier report from the comptroller called 32% of New York’s local bridges deficient and 40% of local roads fair or poor, and getting worse. In a 2013 study, the state Association of Town Superintendents of Highways (NYSAOTSOH) estimated that New York would need to invest an additional $1.3 billion per year on local roads and bridges to prevent them from becoming deficient. A national transportation advocacy group, TRIP, has estimated that deteriorating roads cost New York motorists nearly an additional $25 billion annually – approximately $2,300 for the average driver in some areas -- in lost time, fuel costs, vehicle repairs and other expenses.
