NORWICH – Finding it harder to maintain locally owned roads and bridges, the Chenango County Board of Supervisors has gotten behind an effort pump more money into upstate’s deteriorating infrastructure.
A resolution recently passed by the board calls on New York State to restore funding parity between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the State Department of Transportation. Board members argue that consistent funding between the two agencies would allow for upkeep of New York City’s transportation system without overlooking upstate municipalities.
“Federal money for highways is always a big deal to us because it means a lot of money, and the Governor has obligated a tremendous amount of resources and assets to Metropolitan Transit System in New York City, which probably needs it,” said Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown. “But I want to make sure that we don’t get the short end of the stick more than usual.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a joint effort with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, recently announced an agreement to subsidize the MTA’s nearly $11 billion funding gap for its five-year capital program. Although there’s little debate over the necessity of investment for downstate transit, local leaders are concerned that there isn’t a five-year DOT plan to assess current conditions and determine investments needed to provide for future needs of a modern, safe, reliable and efficient multimodal transportation system in upstate municipalities.
“Anything that we can do to encourage the state to take a look at upstate New York with federal money and how it’s used, we need to take action. We need to call them and tell them how we can use it,” Brown said. “Particularly for bridges projects. We have a project on County Road 32 that would be ready if funding comes about.”
Locally owned roads and bridges make up 87 percent of the state’s 110,000 miles of roadways and 50 percent of the state’s 18,000 bridges. Nonetheless, according to a 2014 report from the New York State Comptroller’s Office, 48 percent of road pavements in the state are rated fair or poor and getting worse; and 34 percent of bridges are deficient.
“These locally owned transportation facilities are deteriorating at a rapid rate as communities continue to struggle to find adequate funding for their maintenance and replacement,” reads the resolution from the Board of Supervisors.
Until 2009, state legislators maintained parity funding between the MTA and the DOT. Five-year capital programs between the two agencies were both similar in size and adopted within a month of each other.
“It is necessary to once again restore parity between the programs,” the resolution states.
In passing a resolution, Chenango County joins ranks of multiple other municipalities and organizations calling for impartial funding between the MTA and the DOT. The advocacy coalition Rebuild NY Now, whose mission is to raise public awareness on the issues impacting New York State’s infrastructure, has been calling for funding parity for months.
The issue has also attracted the attention of New York State Assemblyman Clifford Crouch (R-Bainbridge) and newly elected State Senator Fred Akshar (R-Binghamton).
“Eight billion dollars is a lot of money, and all too often, we see New York City getting the lion’s share of funding and upstate getting whatever is left over,” Crouch said in a statement made back in November. “Infrastructure is vital for economic development and commerce, and when you are talking about economically deprived areas of the state, ignoring the existing infrastructure is not only unsafe, but it further deprives the area.”