Politics & Government

State: Brookhaven To Get $750K More For Road Repairs

Gov. Cuomo's budget increases state funding for road, highway repairs by $75 million.

Brookhaven Town is slated to get additional dollars for road repairs and improvements, under a prosposed increase in state funding put forth by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

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Initial figures show Brookhaven could see an increase of about $750,000, something the town's new Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro would welcome.

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"I'll take it because I can tell you from the condition of the roadways in this town, I could double my budget and probably not make a dent in all the work we'd like to perform," he said. 

Under Cuomo's proposed budget, Brookhaven could receive a total of $3.44 million to fund local highway and road repair projects, an increase of 28 percent over the 2012-13 state budget. 

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Cuomo recently outlined $438 million in funding under his 2013-14 budget for the state's Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) that will go to counties, cities, towns and villages across New York to support local highway, road and bridge repair projects. That total is an increase of 21 percent, the first increase in highway repair funding in five years.

"This budget is about jobs, jobs, jobs, and by investing in rebuilding our state’s transportation infrastructure we are helping to grow local economies and create jobs in all corners of the state," Cuomo said in a written statement. 

The state legislature still must vote to approve the 2013-14 state budget, which is expected before the April 1 deadline.

While in the assembly, Losquadro said he was constantly pushing for addition state funding to cover the cost of road repairs and improvements. Now he faces the difficult task of determining of how the additional funds will be used. 

"We are looking at roads that have previously been given high priority status and new complaints we received in the wake of these recent storms. The roads have sustained a lot of damage," Losquadro said.

He said Brookhaven will develop a triage-like system to prioritize those roads in need of major repairs versus those where smaller fixes would suffice.

"It's three-quarters of a million in paving projects that we otherwise wouldn't have had the money for, so I'm grateful," Losquadro said. 

A complete breakdown of CHIPS funding is available on the governor's website


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