Governor Visits Long Island; Announces ARRA Funding

On Monday, Governor Paterson made a visit to a DOT maintenance yard along Route 110 in Melville to announce new stimulus funds for Long Island. Standing alongside US Senator Chuck Schumer, US Representative Steve Israel, and local officials, Paterson announced an infusion of at least $154 million into Long Island infrastructure projects. The "ARRA" (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funds will be used for highway and road repairs, bridgework, and other long-term improvements to the region's infrastructure. The projects will create an estimated 3,715 jobs on Long Island. In addition, NYSDOT will be awarding $230 million in highway and bridge contracts, and Long Island will receive approximately $32 million in Consolidated Highway Improvement Program funding, which is being restored to the State budget with the stimulus funds. This means that, in total, Long Island will receive over $400 million in highway and bridge funding in 2009-2010.

Governor Paterson said, “New York’s outstanding Congressional Delegation recognized the immediate need for this funding and fought tirelessly until it was secured. This money will not only put our residents back to work, it will create safer roads, stronger infrastructure and a cleaner environment for generations of future residents." Senator Chuck Schumer said, “today’s announcement is proof positive that the recovery act money has already started to come through to New York to put New Yorkers back to work and get this economy back on track.” Congressman Tim Bishop, who is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said, “by investing today in our roads and highways, we are creating jobs, improving public safety, and building a modern infrastructure that will benefit our communities for years to come. Recovery projects such as these will help Long Island’s economy get back on track.”

First approved projects using these funds include:
- $49.1 million of ARRA funding for a $55.9 million project for completely renovating 3.5 miles of New York Route 112 in Brookhaven, Suffolk County to improve the safety for the approximately 20,000 motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists who use the roadway daily. The project includes new plantings and storm-water runoff systems;
- $7.7 million of ARRA funding for a $8.6 million project to resurface approximately nine miles of State roadways in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The top layer of worn, deteriorated pavement will be removed and replaced with new asphalt and fresh pavement markings. Needed drainage cleaning and repairs to improve the quality of storm-water runoff also will be provided;
- $2.0 million of ARRA funding for a $2.3 million project for much-needed concrete pavement repairs to sections of distressed, aging roadway systems throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties to improve pavement smoothness, reduce accidents and maintain pavement integrity;
- $4.9 million of ARRA funding for a $5.4 million project to clean the steel of 10 bridges in Babylon, Brookhaven and Islip in Suffolk County to eliminate corrosion and rust and to paint the structures. These preventative-maintenance repairs will maintain the bridges’ structural reliability;
- $4.3 million of ARRA funding for a $4.8 million project to upgrade approximately 900 traffic signals in Nassau and Suffolk counties by replacing existing incandescent lights with more energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs to reduce energy use and improve the environment. The project includes installing approximately 250 pedestrian countdown crossing signals at key intersections to improve pedestrian safety;
- $0.6 million for designing pavement repairs of State highways in Nassau and Suffolk counties for an estimated $21.4 million construction project next year.

A Long Island Business News article on the press conference noted, "Eric Alexander, executive director of Vision Long Island and a smart growth advocate, also thought Long Island came up short. There are a multitude of projects in the region that are critical to our economic recovery, he said. They include digging sewers that would spur commercial growth in places like Mastic and Rocky Point and, perhaps Long Island’s marquee development plan, the Lighthouse project in Hempstead." The article goes on to post Vision's list of over 250 local and regional infrastructure projects that would support the local economy, create jobs, and improve quality of life. In Newsday, Alexander says he wants to see more projects announced and looks at this as “the first wave.”

In an earlier announcement of stimulus funding, Long Island projects slated to receive assistance included the Glen Cove Ferry Terminal project (a great example of a Smart Growth project that will aid the Island's economy and support quality of life), traffic calming measures in the Town of North Hempstead, and support for sewers in Greenport and SUNY Stony Brook Southampton. These are the types of projects that Vision supports and hopes will receive assistance in the next round of stimulus funding.

Clean Energy Funding for Long Island Municipalities

As posted in last week's Smart Talk, $24.5 million is being awarded to Long Island Towns and Counties for energy projects as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants. These grants can be used for building retrofits, transportation efficiency, recycling programs, and more. The following is a list of funding by municipality, though projects have not yet been announced:

$173,000 to the Village of Freeport
$4,577,700 to the Town of Hempstead
$479,800 to the Village of Hempstead
$892,100 to the Town of North Hempstead
$2,217,000 to the Town of Oyster Bay
$1,545,200 to the Town of Babylon
$4,141,200 to the Town of Brookhaven
$1,725,200 to the Town of Huntington
$3,026,100 to the Town of Islip
$1,064,500 to the Town of Smithtown
$206,600 to the Town of Southampton
$3,723,100 to Nassau County
$732,900 to Suffolk County

.Read more about the energy grants in Newsday.


Transportation Enhancement Program Comes to LI

Another noteworthy stimulus distribution recently occurred with $81 million of federal funds available for New York State under the Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP), some of which overlaps with ARRA funding. "These funds cover projects not eligible for traditional federal transportation funding like bike paths and historic preservation...TEP finances transportation improvements with cultural, aesthetic, historical and environmental significance." Criteria for these non-traditional transportation projects include things like facilities for pedestrians and bicycles, acquisition of scenic or historic sites, scenic or historic highway programs such as tourist and welcome center facilities, preservation of abandoned railway corridors (i.e. rails-to-trails type programs), beautification initiatives, environmental mitigation to address wildlife mortality and water pollution, and the establishment of transportation-related museums. This exciting program has reached Long Island with several projects: $1.3 million for the Syosset Streetscape and Walkability Improvement Project, $500,000 for the Ockers Surface Water Transportation Center at the Long Island Maritime Museum, and $3.2 million for the Town of Riverhead Alternative Transportation Path. Governor Paterson said of the program, "These projects will make necessary improvements to our local walkways, bicycle paths and other transportation routes while spurring economic development and job creation...New York is committed to using the federal resources at our disposal to put people back to work and ensure that our State provides safe and accessible travel beyond that provided by traditional highways and bridges."

Read more about the TEP program here.

SMART GROWTH NEWS

Newsletter Editor: Michelle Dutchen, Communications Director
Contributors: Eric Alexander, Executive Director; Tara Klein, Planning Coordinator;
Tawaun Weber, Director of Special Projects; Juliana Roberts Dubovsky, Planning Consultant

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