Conditions on New York”™s roads and bridges are deteriorating and action must be taken now before things get worse.
The dire statement comes from Astrid C. Glynn, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation.
“We have been under-investing in our transportation system for a while,” she said.
Glynn”™s comments came last week at the Construction Industry Council/Building Contractor”™s Association fall membership meeting.
She said the state of the state”™s transportation infrastructure is not enough to keep pace with growing public needs.
Glynn recently spoke before the state Legislature about New York”™s upcoming transportation needs. She said, ideally, transportation infrastructure repair and upkeep would need $155 billion in funding over the next 20 years.
She recognized that the state would not be able to raise that kind of money alone and should seek help from the federal government.
In fact, she said if current budget trends keep up, transportation funding from the state could be cut up to 40 percent over that time.
“This will require a federal solution,” she said.
So far, the federal government has not been responsive to providing additional transportation funds to the state, she said.
“We built a lot of this infrastructure without federal funding, and now we need help and the federal government is looking at retracting its role.”
Of primary concern are the state”™s 3,000 bridges, many of which are antiquated.
“We have bridges that are literally older than some states.”
The Tappan Zee Bridge has exceeded the lifespan that was intended for it when it was built in 1954.
Several plans are being bandied about for the bridge, including implementing a bus and/or rail transit system, and building an entirely new bridge.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer earlier this year asked the Department of Transportation to head the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project, which was previously directed by the state Thruway Authority.
At his point, the DOT is not recommending any one option for the bridge, as several more hearings and studies are still to be conducted, she said.
She said the Tappan Zee and other bridges that need to be replaced or require constant upkeep need to find the funding to do so, because there are no other options.
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“We cannot just close 3,000 bridges,” she said. “Something needs to be done.”
Glynn acknowledged that not every transportation project will likely be able to be funded.
“We”™ll have to take a city by city approach, and target areas that will spur the economy,” she said. “Not everyone is going to get everything.”
She said while taxpayers may be reluctant to fund some of these projects, it is essential to do.
“We have to spend now, so we don”™t have to spend much more later,” she said.
Glynn expressed optimism that the resurgence of Stewart International Airport in Orange County will make it a more viable airport and relieve some of the congestion on LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports.
She said not only maintaining the current infrastructure, but improving it is necessary to attract business and people to New York in the coming decades.
“The transportation system is vital; it is the circulatory system of the state,” she said.
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