New York announces $100M for weather-related road construction projects

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced $100 million for road work in 70 locations in the state that have been impacted by extreme weather, The Central New York Business Journal reports. 

With project support from the federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act, crews will repave a total of 551 lane miles of state highways in every region of the state, to revitalize New York’s aging infrastructure, Hochul’s office said.

In its announcement, the state listed the projects by region, and the following are a few examples of the highways targeted for work:

• Central New York—The Central New York region has eight projects that include $1.8 million to resurface Route 174 from Lee Mulroy Road to Main Street in Marcellus and from Main Street to West Genesee Street in Camillus. The funding awards also include $500,000 to resurface Route 931B (State Fair Boulevard)—from Route 297 to Pump House Road in the town of Geddes. Additionally, the funding includes $1.6 million to resurface Route 104 from the Cayuga County line to Route 104A in the town of Oswego and the town and village of Hannibal in Oswego County.
• Mohawk Valley—The three funding awards in the Mohawk Valley include $2.1 million to resurface Route 20 from Beaver Creek Road to Brothertown Road in the town of Sangerfield in Oneida County.
• Southern Tier—The nine projects in the Southern Tier include $2.3 million to resurface Route 38 from the village of Newark Valley to the hamlet of Berkshire, in the towns of Newark Valley and Berkshire, in Tioga County. Additionally, $1.1 million will be allocated to resurface Route 26 from Overlook Drive to the Cortland County line in the town of Triangle in Broome County.
• North Country—In the North Country, the 11 project awards include $1.3 million to resurface Route 11 from the east village of Gouverneur line to Bristol Road in the town of Gouverneur in St. Lawrence County.

“With the impacts of climate change becoming even more severe, that workload has been increasing,” Marie Therese Dominguez, New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner, said during a Dec. 4 news conference. “What does that actually mean? … What it means is that beyond the freeze and thaw cycle, we are experiencing more impacts of not just freezing and thawing but also wind, flooding, downed trees … all of the things that we now see all at once … intense rainfalls, intense snowfalls in tighter periods of time than we’ve seen before.