SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- An advocacy group held a news conference today near the Interstate 81 overpass to urge the state to spend more money to fix New York’s decaying roads and bridges.
The event was part of a statewide campaign by Rebuild NY to raise awareness of what it calls New York’s “infrastructure crisis.” Contractors, union leaders and elected officials spoke at the event in Wilson Park on South McBride Street. The group is pushing the state to put $35 billion in the 2020 budget to address the problem.
Gary Hill, a construction contractor from Western New York, called the condition of Route 11 in Syracuse “deplorable.”
“This is a disgrace to our urban areas,” Hill said at the news conference.
Assembly member Pam Hunter, D-Syracuse, said infrastructure improvements in Syracuse need to be done in a way that does not hurt nearby neighborhoods. “In years past we can see that many people benefited from the convenience afforded by new highway infrastructure while the burden of displacement and blight was mainly shouldered by low income people of color,” she said.
One of every eight Central New York bridges needs significant repairs, according to a recent report by TRIP, a nonprofit transportation research organization.
About 911,000 vehicles travel on structurally deficient bridges every day in the Syracuse area, the report said. The most heavily trafficked bridge that’s in poor condition is the I-690 bridge over North Townsend Street in downtown Syracuse.
Deteriorating infrastructure costs the average driver $1,600 annually in wear and tear, increases carbon emissions and damages public health, according to Rebuild NY.
1 in 8 bridges in Central New York ‘structurally deficient,’ according to report
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