Groups Advocate for Funding of Local Roads and Bridges

ALBANY, NY (03/05/2012)(readMedia)-- --

WHAT: 2012 Local Roads & Bridges Grassroots Campaign

WHEN: Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 from 8:00am - 1:00pm

WHERE: Hotel Albany (formerly Crowne Plaza), Albany, NY

DETAIL: The New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways, Inc. (NYSAOTSOH) and the New York State County Highway Superintendents Association (NYSCHSA) are expecting about 600 highway superintendents and other highway professionals to discuss funding needs with lawmakers. Both groups remain concerned that the Governor's Budget continues to underfund local road and bridge needs by about $1.2 billion per year. CHIPs and Marchiselli, the two main programs that help fund the majority of local projects, is funded at a level far below what is recommended by the NYSDOT to simply maintain core efforts. Predictably, this is resulting in an increased rate of deterioration of our local transportation system, making it much more difficult to reverse this trend in the years to come.

The Governor's Budget does call for a 52 percent, or $946 million, increase in the State DOT capital program. Both groups are asking that local CHIPs funding increase at the same rate bringing it to $550 million and Marchiselli to $60 million. This represents more than the Governor's proposal of $363.1 million for CHIPs and $39.7 million for Marchiselli. Although still far short of the investment needed to make real progress in the local road and bridge system, the increase should slow the deterioration of the local system.

Additionally, when the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund (DHBTF) was established, it did not adequately account for inflation growth and material, equipment and machinery cost increases over the years. The fund's financing structure also did not anticipate the rising cost of motor fuels and the adoption of aggressive Federal and State policies designed to reduce gasoline consumption, which puts negative pressure on DHBTF purchasing power and revenues.

Problems for local bridges are particularly troublesome. According to an audit issued by the New York State Comptroller in January 2010, local bridges were more than twice as likely as State bridges to be "red-flagged" for serious structural defects.

Information about the event and legislative materials may be downloaded from the NYSAOTSOH web site at www.nystownhwys.org or the NYSCHSA web site at www.countyhwys.org.

CONTACT: For more information about the Grass Roots Advocacy Campaign, contact NYSAOTSOH Communications Director, Michael Thompson by phone (518-694-9313) or email (info@nystownhwys.org) or contact NYSCHSA Communications Director, Joseph Van De Loo by phone (518-465-1694) or email (info@countyhwys.org).