New York Coalition Seeking Massive Additional Funding for NY Roads
The state of New York is home to many great sights and attractions. You can literally find or see anything in this state. New York City is a world in of itself where you can find the greatest of entertainment, our very own Hudson Valley is an attraction every year that tourists flock to and if you want to get away from the city, just head upstate and you can find some peace up in the mountains.
My point is that as New Yorker's we live in a great state. However, no matter how great one may think they are, it doesn't mean New York is perfect. To get to those places I just mentioned, it requires traveling and thousands of people drive through New York on our roads everyday. New York roads are not that great and it doesn't matter where you go we have construction going on all over the place, trying to improve our road ways. This leads me to today...
New York Coalitions Funding Request
Today I read about how numerous different NY businesses, ranging from different construction companies to political and corporate entities have joined together with a united goal of acquiring additional funding for the purpose of improving NY road ways. As you can imagine, the sought after dollar amount is astronomical.
The group specifically asking for this additional funding is called the "Rebuild NY" coalition. Together this coalition is seeking an additional $1.12 billion in funding to be added to the state budget. No you didn't read that wrong and no it's not a typo, that's 1.12 BILLION additional dollars being requested.
Per the Department of Transportation which handles these road construction projects, the price for materials on these assignments like steel and asphalt as well as fuel have all risen in the last year due to inflation. The coalition recently addressed a letter to New York Governor, Kathy Hochul sitting why this additional funding is necessary stating that without it....
...we will see significant reductions in the maintenance and reconstruction work done in every NYSDOT Region in the state.
Astounding Amounts of Money
Obviously the requested money by this NY coalition is astounding, but believe it or not the numbers in terms of total money already invested into NY roads, makes this request look like pittance. According to the report, the NYSDOT already works on nearly $33 billion budget ($32.8 billion to be exact). Of that money, $6 billion is reserved entirely for "bridge and highway assistance". The report also stated that the average construction program is estimated at $2.6 billion annually.
Despite these preposterous dollar figures, inflation numbers have put a beating on this industry. Reported numbers show that inflation has caused the cost of construction has risen by...
more than 250% while cost of steel has more than doubled
What Will Happen Next?
Check This Out: Is NY One of the Worst States to Drive In
It is expected that within the next few weeks, Governor Hochul will be introducing a budget plan for the 2023-2024 year. This same budget plan is also expected to pass by the end of March. Any questions regarding any money coming from the state will be answered then. Hopefully when this budget is brought to the public, we will have an answer on whether or not this request was approved or not.