State Allocates $2.3 M for Repair of Bedford Roads

Over $2.3 million in state funds is earmarked for preserving Bedford's roads, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office announced last week.

State highway crews will complete a pavement preservation project on a stretch of Route 22, from Middle Patent Road to Route 121, and on Route 172 from Route 117 to the beginning of Route 172.

The work is among a group of 38 "New York Works" projects targeting 287 miles of roads and 23 bridges in the Hudson Valley for repair—including over $250 million in pavement projects.

Details on the start of the road work have not yet been announced.

Kevin Winn, Bedford's public works commissioner, said he was encouraged by the news, in particular because Rte. 22 was "in particularly bad shape in parts." He said the road hadn't been paved—to the best of his knowledge—in almost a decade.

Criteria for a road to be included in the pavement preservation program was a rating of "fair" or "poor." Over 40 percent of the state's roads are rated as deficient.

According to Cuomo's office, the NY Works program will help stimulate local economies and create jobs by "coordinating comprehensive capital plans, overseeing all investment in infrastructure projects, and accelerating hundreds of critical projects across the state."

"For the second straight year, New York State has worked and passed a balanced and transformative budget based on fiscal responsibility, job creation, government efficiency," Governor Cuomo said. "The cornerstone of this budget is the New York Works program, a new and smarter strategy for putting New Yorkers back to work by rebuilding our aging infrastructure and helping put our state's economy back on track, just the way we have put our state government back on track. This significant investment will rebuild the foundation of the region's economy and create thousands of jobs for New Yorkers."

The state budget funds the NY Works program with $247 million in state capital funds and $917 million in new federal funds for a total of $1.2 billion in new spending to accelerate repair, replacement and improvement of deficient roads and bridges.

The program also sets up a "NY Works Task Force," responsible for coordinating capital plans across 45 agencies and authorities. Previous to this initiative, Cuomo said, there was no comprehensive state plan for the $16 billion in annual capital expenditures; for the first time, the task force will develop a coordinated capital infrastructure plan among agencies and authorities.

The NY Works Task Force will consist of fifteen members from a range of industries, nine appointed by the governor and six by the legislature.

The projects will be posted on the state website with real-time updates so that local residents can track the progress of projects in their community. Check back with Patch for details as they become available.