Editor's Notebook March 2025

Craig Mongeau - Editor in Chief - March 2025

I've said it before (many times) and I'll say it again, properly funding roads and bridges is among the most essential money that government allocates. Frankly, the condition of a country's roads and bridges is among the components that define whether or not it's a first-, second- or third-world nation. Roads are just like arteries in the human body and we certainly want to ensure we're eating right, addressing potential or existing circulatory problems so that we don't suffer the consequences of blockages.

It can certainly (and rightly) be debated that federal and state government should endeavor to find ways to trim expenses to lower deficits, but vital services cannot be up for debate.

Such has been the case with the governor's 2025-2026 budget proposal in which no additional funding for local roads and bridges is included. This comes, as the New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways pointed out to lawmakers that inflation has raised the cost of asphalt and other materials in recent years. One superintendent (see story on page 52) explained that municipalities, towns, villages and counties own and maintain 87 percent of the total road mileage on New York State (note: there is a significant increase in funding for roads maintained by NYSDOT.)

CHIPS funding is like a cholesterol reducing medication: take it and you lower your risk of dangerous blockages; don't take it and risk catastrophic consequences. Potentially deteriorating local roads from lack of adequate funding presents the same risky gamble.

Superintendent's Profile and I strongly support your efforts to inform the governor and lawmakers that local road funding is just as important, if not more important, than larger scale project funding. If I could, I would remind her of what the former house speaker, Tip O'Neill, representative from Massachusetts, would often say: "All politics is local."

It's how you win elections, keep your job and in this case, keep New York State great. P