State Senator Tom O’Mara and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano will be joined in Albany Wednesday by Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay, legislative colleagues in the Senate and Assembly, and local roads advocates to call for increased state funding for local roads, bridges, and culverts in the final 2023-2024 New York State budget.
Wednesday’s call to action coincides with the “Local Roads Are Essential” advocacy campaign getting underway this week and sponsored by the New York State Association of County Highway Superintendents and the New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways, Inc.
Chief among the concerns is the ongoing deterioration of local roads, bridges, and culverts. Numerous studies over the past decade have highlighted the decline of New York’s locally maintained transportation infrastructure and its impact on economic development, local property taxes, and motorist safety. The local roads advocates are also highlighting the skyrocketing construction and maintenance costs putting a severe strain on the budgets of already overburdened county and town highway departments.
