Fix Our Crumbling Roads in Region, Leaders Tell Gov. Hochul at Rally
MONTROSE, NY—New Yorkers deserve better roads, and for far too long state lawmakers have fallen short in their investment in our region’s transportation networks. That was the core message voiced by a group of road and bridge advocates as well as state and local politicians on Thurs., Dec. 5 as the state heads into the 2025 budget season.
A dozen lawmakers joined labor leaders and the Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley to urge the Hochul Administration to boost transportation funding by $800 million and to spend an additional $100 million to fix roads and bridges in the Lower Hudson Valley. The call for these “critical road safety investments in the next state budget” was held at a press conference at the Operating Engineers Local 137 Training Center here in Northern Westchester.
Having fallen short in previous budget cycles, the chorus of speakers now say $800 million is required in increased funding for transportation needs in the next state budget—along with additional “equitable funding” needed for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Region 8 to catch up with spending levels posted in other parts of the state.
PHOTO CREDIT: Office of State Sen. Pete Harckham/Tom Staudter
New York State Sen. Pete Harckham (DC-40) led the brigade of officials that included State Assemblymembers Chris Burdick, Dana Levenberg, MaryJane Shimsky and Matt Slater, along with several local public officials.
CIC Executive Director John T. Cooney, Jr., was joined by union leaders from Laborers Local 60, Laborers Local 235, Carpenters Local 279 and Teamsters Local 456. Business Manager Jeff Loughlin of Operating Engineers Local 137, which hosted the press conference.
The statewide organization, the New York Roadway Infrastructure Coalition, last week rallied industry, labor, business and community support groups in advocating for capital funding to address the state’s transportation needs. The $800 million funding level is needed, they’re telling Gov. Hochul, for core projects in the next state budget to counter inflation costs that are eroding the value of construction procurements and comprising the safety of roads, bridges and transportation systems statewide.
Last year, Gov. Hochul’s executive budget included $7.6 billion for the third year of the five-year $32.9-billion NYS Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Capital Plan.
Meanwhile, NYSDOT’s Region 8, which encompasses the Hudson Valley and includes 5,461 lane miles of roadway, the most in the state, has New York’s worst rated roads and bridges. According to NYSDOT statistics, 60% of the roads in Region 8 and half of its bridges are in poor condition. By comparison, Region 1, which includes Albany, has 63% of its roads ranked as “good condition,” Long Island’s roads are ranked 63% as being “good to excellent” and New York City’s roads condition is ranked 89% as “good.”
The woeful conditions of NYSDOT Region 8 roads can be attributed to the number of its repaved lane miles, which have dropped by almost half in two years, from 430 miles in 2022 to 245 miles in 2024. (Statewide, NYSDOT repaving and patching decreased from 4,000 miles in 2022 to an expected 2,200 miles in 2024 based on tonnage of asphalt utilized—the lowest amount in a decade.) Region 8 also has the worst repaving cycle in the state. It takes 16 years on average for state roadways to be repaved in Region 8, while the repaving cycle is only 12 years in the rest of the state.
A 2024 report from TRIP, a national transportation research organization, concluded that poor road and bridge conditions cost motorists $36.7 billion annually—up to $3,600 per driver in some areas—due to vehicle damage, crashes and traffic: a veritable “pothole tax” that few families can afford. The report also noted that delaying repairs ends up increasing costs exponentially more for state and local governments.