When will our state roads get better?

No one needs to be told about the horrendous condition that too many of our state roads are in across Long Island. Close to home is the disgraceful condition of the Sunrise Highway North
Service Road between Manor Lane and the entrance ramp east of Udall Road in West Islip. This stretch consists mainly of rough road resulting from potholes being filled and refilled countless times. The condition of this road was brought to the attention of the New York State Department of Transportation’s Long Island Region in the summer of 2018 through two Twitter messages and then again through several more formal correspondence beginning in March 2019. Unfortunately there has been no progress in getting this road prioritized for resurfacing as “NYSDOT does not have additional funding at this time to resurface this roadway”. The first two years of DOT’s current capital plan does not include funding for this small stretch in West Islip and even when funding is finally approved, that is only the initial phase of a multiyear project that begins with the bidding process. So it’s inevitable that motorists will have to endure driving on this stretch of road for years to come.

The primary source for funding the state’s highway capital improvements is the gasoline tax which as of January 1 is 61.1 cents per gallon, the eighth highest in the nation as cited by the American Petroleum Institute. This tax includes the federal excise amount of 18.4 cents per gallon which may be diverted for use outside of New York State. To make matters worse for New York motorists, the Empire Center estimates that 30% of the entire state’s portion of the tax is used for New York City subways and busses in addition to the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North commuter lines. Furthermore state gasoline taxes are not earmarked for the region they were paid and may be used in other regions in the state such as Long Islanders paying for improvements on New York’s Thruway system.

According to Margaret Conklin, DOT’s Regional Maintenance Director, this stretch in West Islip has been inspected and received a score qualifying it for resurfacing. A review of road conditions is performed by the DOT every two years. Those roads are then assigned a score to help prioritize roads by condition. Conklin went on to express her frustration with the poor condition of many state roads and acknowledged that it is inefficient and ineffective for the DOT to use a band aid approach to address them. However this is done as resurfacing comes down to money and a small stretch of service road such as this is in competition for funding with more heavily traveled roads such as the expressway sections of the Long Island Expressway and Sunrise Highway as well as Long Island’s parkway system. And while many of Suffolk’s state roads are in need of resurfacing, Conklin cited that the majority of state roads on Long Island that are in need of resurfacing are in Nassau County.

This specific stretch of service road was discussed yesterday with Senator Phil Boyle at his
constituents meeting in Bay Shore. Boyle pledged to look into the matter and speak to the DOT with the goal of having this addressed in a more timely matter.

Note: Complaints about the condition of this stretch of the Sunrise Highway North Service Road in West Islip can be addressed to Margaret Conklin, New York State DOT Long Island
Region, 250 Veterans Highway. Hauppauge, New York 11788.

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