CHENANGO COUNTY – A new piece of state legislation is on the table that could protect funding intended for bridge repair in communities across the state, including Chenango County and other locations in the Southern Tier.
The BRIDGE (Bridge and Road Investment and Dedicated Fund and Guaranteed Enforcement) Reform Act, sponsored by Senator Tom Libous (R-Binghamton), requires an amendment of the state finance law to direct money toward necessary bridge and road construction and repair. Although the bill failed to pass the State Assembly when it was first introduced by Libous in 2008, he said conditions of bridges all over the state have only declined.
“I introduced the BRIDGE Act in 2008 because at the time, New York spent only 30 percent of the Dedicated Highway Fund on keeping our highways and bridges safe and sound,” stated Libous. “Since then, the situation has gotten worse.”
Libous’ bill phases out use of Dedicated Highway Fund for non-bridge and road expenses over a five-year period before completely prohibiting use of those funds for anything other than capital construction projects.
In defending the bill, Libous cited a report released by the New York Comptroller this month which discloses that only 22 percent of the $3.8 billion disbursed from the fund were spent on capital construction, which includes bridge repair in 2012-2013. He added that a bulk of the fund was used for unintended purposes such as department services, administrative costs for the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Transportation, and on routine snow and ice removal.
According to the Comptroller's report, “The Fund no longer serves its original purpose of assuring reliable, predictable investment in the future of the state's transportation infrastructure.”
Libous says all this leads to less state funding for bridge repair, leaving local governments to increase their share for construction. In Chenango County, there are currently 30 bridges considered structurally deficient (in poor condition), and another 19 are functionally obsolete (have an outdated design).
Chenango County Director of Public Works Shawn Fry explained the county is responsible for maintaining nearly 140 bridges, not including those located along state highways. While the department pushes to repair or replace at least two bridges per year, he said many more are in need of servicing.
But Fry said a lack of state and federal funding is putting a greater burden on local taxpayers.
“A lot more money is generally pushed toward interstate system and high traffic volume roadways,” he said. “It has become very hard for small rural counties with small populations to get the funding they need for bridge projects.”
Fry added that efforts to streamline state funding directly to local municipalities to help with bridge replacement might be more beneficial to the county than having that funding go through a federal process.
“What (state legislators) are trying to do is find a better way to fund local municipalities that, right now, are going through federal programs,” explained Fry. But time is of the essence, he added. “Price of construction material is going up. We have a lot of projects line up, and they aren't getting any cheaper.”
While the Chenango County DPW awaits action on the BRIDGE Act, Fry noted the department did receive more than $2.1 million from the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) this year, which substantially lowers the local share for upcoming construction projects.