NYS receives $500M to rehab bridges

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- New York state is home to over 17,000 bridges that we drive on every day. State officials announced over $500 million will be distributed to localities to rehabilitate bridges and culverts  - which are those tunnel structures that allow water to pass through. That funding being provided through the states BRIDGE New York initiative, a program that provides money to localities to improve infrastructure and make New York more resilient to the impacts of climate change. 

"There’s just more and more compelling evidence that our road and bridge program in New York State is still underfunded," said Mike Elmendorf, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Associated General Contractors of NYS. A partial breakdown of how that funding will be allocated shows the Capital Region receiving over $44 million, Central New York, over $31 million, and New York City awarded $73 million. Elmendorf said while this funding will help, there are over 4000 bridges in fair or poor condition in New York, "To be fair, New York is an older state, we have winter to contend with, which doesn’t really help the condition of our roads and bridges and then we’ve got an increasing frequency of weather incidents that take a toll."

Elmendorf said as conditions for bridges and culverts worsen, it’s more expensive to bring them back to a state of good repair, "So we’re just digging a deeper hole, and then, if you look at New York’s aggressive push towards electric vehicles, these things weigh a lot more than conventional vehicles. And obviously a heavier vehicle is going to take a heavier toll and a harder toll on the condition of a road or the condition of a bridge."

Elmendorf told Capitol Correspondent, Amal Tlaige, that Bridge New York is funded through the Capital Program using federal dollars – something the state legislature shifted state dollars out of in recent years, which he feels was a mistake. He said the more the state invests in infrastructure, the more job creation there will be, "Those projects support our communities, they support our broader economy, a state that has infrastructure in a state of poor repair is not a state that’s going to do well attracting investment and business and people."