A coalition of government, business, and labor organizations from around New York has urged state officials to embrace a plan that would provide billions of dollars for a key highway construction program. The Rebuild NY Now coalition sent a letter this week to Governor Kathy Hochul and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, calling on them to support a state Senate proposal that would add $2 billion to the Department of Transportation’s Capital Program. If approved, the measure would bring the total to $8 billion over the next four years of the program.
The coalition has been advocating for the added spending for highway improvements for several months, citing an increase in construction costs due to inflation. According to the group, costs for materials such as fuel, asphalt, and steel have all increased between July 2020 and July 2022. However, at the same time, the conditions of state and local bridges in New York have decreased, which has resulted in the added funding in recent years falling behind.
The Rebuild NY Now coalition believes that additional funding should be added to the 2023-24 budget for state and local highway construction to maintain the same level of funding when the five-year program was initially adopted.
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