"This funding is critical for counties, cities, towns and villages in the North Country to maintain highways and bridges that are so critical to transportation realities in upstate New York. I helped fight to ensure there was parity for transportation funding for all regions of our state," Assemblywoman Russell said.
Jefferson County will receive $4.34 million and St. Lawrence County will receive $4.80 million. In addition, the two cities, towns and villages in the 116th Assembly District will receive a total of $5.99 million.
St. Lawrence County Highway Superintendent Donald Chambers said highway funding included in the 2016-17 state budget was good news for his department.
"I'm very thankful for the hard work our legislators did supporting this," he told St. Lawrence County lawmakers during a recent county legislature committee meeting.
Mr. Chambers said the county highway department will receive approximately $400,000 more in aid from the state than it had in the 2015-16 state budget. He said the current cost for materials to pave one mile of road is in the $130,000 range.
The funding, which is provided through the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPs) and PAVE NY, was included in the 2016-17 state budget.
“I fought for more state funding to make much-needed repairs and upgrades to aging roads and bridges in our communities,” Assemblywoman Russell said. “North Country residents need safe roads to get to and from work and school. Investing in infrastructure also creates jobs and will help our economy grow and continue moving forward.”
The 2016-17 state budget includes CHIPs funding of $438 million and $800 million over a four-year period for PAVE NY and BRIDGE NY.
Aging infrastructure is a problem throughout the state. A 2012 report issued by the state Comptroller’s office found that 45.9 percent of local roads and highways were rated “poor” or "fair” and 35 percent of local bridges are deficient.
Assemblywoman Russell said one of the major concerns raised by local officials is the need for state funding to help them maintain the roads and bridges in their communities.
She said she worked to make sure there were no cuts to the CHIPs program and that additional dollars were added to the budget specifically targeted for road and bridge repairs.
The funding breakdown in the various municipalities throughout the 116th Assembly District is provided in the charts.
