Schumer Proposal Would Raise Funding For Some N.Y. Bridges

James Post

A proposal by Sen. Charles Schumer would provide more federal money for bridges in New York that aren’t part of the federal highway system.

Currently, there are about 7,500 such bridges in the state, according to Schumer. Of those, more than 2,200 – 412 in the Southern Tier – have been rated structurally
deficient or functionally obsolete.

“Structurally deficient” means important structural elements of the bridge have deteriorated over time, or may mean the bridge or its approach is frequently flooded.
“Functionally obsolete” means the design would not be up to current standards if were being built today.

“Many of the repairs to our bridges are long overdue,” he said. “It’s left to local government to foot the bill for repairs on the smaller local bridges. Many of them simply don’t have the money that they need to keep pace with the deterioration.”
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