The warm weather is here and contracts are in to begin road resurfacing later this summer.
While smoother commutes are always good news for motorists, there’s even better news for our local communities. Last week, Assemblyman Colin Schmitt announced municipalities in the 99th Assembly District would be receiving over $2.7 million in funding, an increase of over $700,000, for local town and village road and infrastructure improvements. Municipalities will be able to get more roads paved this year, or roll the money over into next year’s budget.
Highland Falls
The village will receive $69,878 in CHIPS funds, up from $51,826 in 2020; $18,677 in PAVE NY funds, up from $11,829; and $15,380 in EWR (Extreme Winter Recovery Funding) funds, up from $9465.
Mayor Joe D’Onofrio said the village has plans for paving to be done on Eagle Valley Road, Cooks Lane, Havens Road, Fostoria Street, Church Street, and Dale Avenue, but, he hopes all of that work will be done by Central Hudson after gas line replacement work has torn up road surfaces. The same goes for Main Street, south of Mountain Avenue, which is a state road, but also now features significant patch work after gas line replacement.
“I have a meeting with Central Hudson this week about those roads,” the mayor said.
He said he, Department of Public Works Supervisor John Jones, and Engineer Todd Atkinson have a list of other village roads that are due to be repaved, and, now that they have state funding numbers, they’ll figure out which roads will be paved this year. He said among those getting consideration are Kleitz Avenue and Station Hill Road.
D’Onofrio said he was very pleased to see the increase in the state roads funding, “especially during these tough times.”
Highlands
The town will receive $30,258 in CHIPS funds, up from $23,238 in 2020; $7,956 in PAVE NY funds, up from $5,304; and $7,020 in EWR funds, up from $4,563.
Highway Superintendent Pat Patterson said he was pleased with the increase, noting that every year the Orange County Highway Superintendents Association goes to Albany to lobby for more road money.
Patterson said his department plans to finish Kreiger Road (off Weyant Road and Canterbury Road in Fort Montgomery) this year. After that, as funding becomes available, and after a sewer plant improvement project is complete, Mine Dock Road is the next major paving project he expects.
Cornwall-on-Hudson
The village will be receiving $124,087 in CHIPS funding, $33,181 from PAVE NY, and $27,177 in EWR funds. Department of Public Works Superintendent David Halvorsen said he usually receives about $94,000 in CHIPS funding, but the other two sources are usually a small amount. This money will be combined with the approximately $10,000 leftover from last year.
A proposal has already been submitted for the following streets: Homeland Avenue, Paula Court, Jean Court, Carol Terrace, Maple Avenue, Maple Avenue Extension, and Holts Lane.
The village will be piggybacking on the county’s contract, but said additional work could be added in the future or the money saved for next year.
Halvorsen said the village relies heavily on state funding, but over the past six years some money has been taken out of fund balance to cover the cost for sidewalk repairs, etc.
Work is tentatively scheduled for the end of July.
Cornwall
Highway Department Superintendent Tom Gschwind said the town only received 80 percent of its funding last year because of the pandemic as it was unknown whether there would be enough funding for all municipalities. This year, however, 100 percent funding is being made available, plus the additional 20 percent from last year. This means the town will receive $109,191 in CHIPS funding, $29,016 from PAVE NY, and $24,443.76 in EWR funds.
Gschwind said the additional money will help because more work is planned this year. He said he tries to resurface about five miles of road annually, but last year resulted in only 3.5 miles being completed. This year seven miles of road are slated to be resurfaced including: Schunnemunk Meadows and Nanuwitt Lane off Orrs Mill Road, all roads around Beaver Dam Lake, all roads off Route 94, and some off Route 32 including Beakes Road, Holloran Road, and Kathy Court. Work is expected to begin in mid to late August.
In preparation, the highway department has been filling potholes and edges of the roads which are to be resurfaced. The blacktop is allowed to sit for a month before the roads are tarred and chipped. Unlike the village, which uses asphalt, the town chooses the more inexpensive product because it has 50 miles of road. Gschwind said it cost $160,000 just to resurface Jackson Avenue last year.
In addition to the work above, Gschwind said he’s still waiting to sign a contract for the blacktopping of Hidden Glen and Warren Court.
