NYRIC Calls For Increased Infrastructure Investment

One-year after tragic bridge collapse, state faces funding crisis

ALBANY, NY (07/31/2008)(readMedia)-- Albany, NY - On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the collapse of the I-35 W Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the New York Roadway Improvement Coalition (NYRIC) urges state and federal lawmakers to increase the funding necessary to repair New York's 6,646 structurally deficient or functionally obsolete bridges.

The main source of federal aid for transportation infrastructure projects, the Highway Trust Fund, faces a deficit of almost $4 billion by the end of 2009. To protect against immediate cuts in funding, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed legislation to transfer $8 billion from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund. H.R. 6532, the "Highway Trust Fund Restoration Act" was approved by a vote of 387-37, with all New York representatives supporting it. However, the U.S. Senate failed to stop a filibuster of a tax bill that contained a provision to restore the $8 billion.

Without this fix, States could face a 34% reduction in federal transportation aid. In New York, it amounts to $550 million that would be cut from the Department of Transportation's (DOT) construction program, delaying dozens of critical bridge capital projects. This bill must be passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Bush before the start of next federal fiscal year (October 1, 2008) or we risk the loss of nearly 20,000 jobs.

The fiscal situation is just as dire at the state level. The deficit in New York's primary source of revenue, the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund, is estimated to be almost $800 million in the next four years. According to DOT's own needs assessment, more than four times the average annual level of investment is needed to maintain our entire transportation system. Further exacerbating this problem, the cost of construction materials are escalating at a record pace, with the average price of asphalt increasing 143%, fuel 39% and steel 31% since January.

  1. Executive Committee
  2. 629 Old White Plains
  3. Tarrytown, NY 10591
  4. (914) 631-6070

  6. Executive Committee
  7. President
  8. Jim Melius
  9. LECET - Laborers
  10. (518) 449-1715
  11. Treasurer

  13. Ross Pepe
  14. Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley, Inc.
  15. (914) 631-6070

  17. Felice Farber
  18. General Contractors Association of New York, Inc.
  19. (212) 687-3131

  21. Steve Stallmer
  22. Associated General Contractors
  23. (518) 456-1134

  25. Marc Herbst
  26. Long Island Contractors Association
  27. (631) 467-4230

-30-