May 2023

WEST NYACK, NY—Local motorists, truckers and residents voiced their opinions here at the Palisades Center on May 16 over the New York State Thruway Authority’s proposal to increase revenues to help finance its ambitious and needed $1.9-billion 2023-2027 capital plan.

ALBANY—As vehicle traffic returns to pre-pandemic levels, the New York State Thruway Authority is facing a significant funding backlog in coming years, according to a report released recently by TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit based in Washington, DC.

NEWBURGH, NY—Despite the headlines of a population surge three years ago into the Hudson Valley region from New York City as Gothamists sought the safety of rural downstate counties, a new analysis of the population shift during the pandemic tells a slightly different story. The region lost 4,845 people due to migration to locations outside the region. A leading research firm released a report May 3 that chronicled the Hudson Valley’s population loss during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and 2020.

RYE, NY—In the aftermath of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s failed “New York Housing Compact” bold initiative that called for the development of 800,000 new housing units statewide to address what she termed as a housing crisis in New York State, real estate executives and government officials at a recent real estate conference agreed that the severe housing shortage in Westchester County and New York State is real.

New York is poised to be the first city in the United States to implement a tolling program to combat traffic congestion and incentivize the use of public transportation. This approach has successfully reduced traffic and improved air quality in London, Stockholm and Singapore and raised significant funding for public transit. While each city faces unique challenges, evidence from around the world shows that these programs reduce traffic, improve air quality and raise revenue to modernize public transportation.

NEW YORK—A triumvirate of government bodies released on May 12 the long-debated report that supports congestion pricing in Manhattan. The Final Environmental Assessment for the Central Business District Tolling Program and a draft “Finding of No Significant Impact,” prepared by the Federal Highway Administration, is now available for public review online thru June 11.

As anyone who has had the displeasure of being on the defending end of a personal injury action knows, cross claims between various defendants (seeking to shift blame) can be litigated with greater fervor than the claim of the injured plaintiff.

TARRYTOWN, NY—Highway safety advocates are urging drivers to pay attention and slow down as part of the National Work Zone Awareness campaign this month. Construction workers in traffic work zones are at high risk, and the state is doing more to protect them. The NYSDOT recently reported there were more than 200 crashes in work zones on state roadways and bridges in 2021, resulting in nearly 50 injuries.

LOS ANGELES—New York’s highway system ranks 49th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition, according to the Annual Highway Report by the Reason Foundation released on April 20. This year’s ranking is a three-spot decline from the previous report when New York ranked 46th.

ALBANY—The Environmental Facilities Corporation Board of Directors approved $51 million in funding that includes low-cost financing and previously announced grants that authorizes municipal access to the capital necessary to move critical water and sewer infrastructure projects forward. These include replacement of lead service connections, treatment processes to remove emerging contaminants from drinking water and modernizing aging systems.