We will seek a grant from the SMART Authority to fund accelerated capital repairs and upgrades
During the 1970's fiscal crisis, the City's road resurfacing efforts virtually stopped. Repaving was limited to our principal arterials, which received a lower quality of resurfacing than would be acceptable today. New layers of asphalt were simply laid over the older, damaged sections and sealed up. Each new layer caused the road level to rise closer to the curb. To avoid having streets at the same level as the sidewalks, repairs were simply avoided longer.

As the city's budget crisis eased, New York restored funding for street repair. Using new equipment, as well as additional personnel and private contractors, resurfacing increased through 1991, and the roads steadily improved. (See chart above: Lane Miles Resurfaced Per Year in New York City)

But since then, the average yearly resurfacing has fallen back below what was needed to maintain the quality of the city's streets. To keep pace with the wear of daily travel, we must resurface approximately 1,000 lane miles of its roads per year. In the past 15 years we have averaged only 800 lane miles. This under-investment has resulted in a consistent decline in street assessment ratings, to a current low, where only 69.9% of our streets are rated "good" or better. (See chart on previous page: Lane Miles in Good Repair in New York City)

We will reverse this trend by increasing the City's street resurfacing output with a limited SMART grant paid out over 20 years.

We will also seek to improve our efficiency by increasing the use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP). With RAP the City takes the asphalt that is about to be removed and recycles it as fresh asphalt. RAP has the potential to replace as much as 50% of the new material we use for asphalt. In addition to reducing our waste disposal needs, this will cut down on truck trips and on the need for new aggregate and asphalt cement.

The City has done a better job at maintaining the 787 City-owned bridges and tunnels that connect the five boroughs. After the Williamsburg Bridge was closed in 1988 for emergency repairs, the City began a significant rehabilitation program and is in the process of completing all deferred maintenance. But with more traffic every year, the City's bridges require significant periodic capital upgrades and replacement. We will not substitute that work for routine maintenance, but we will seek a SMART Fund grant to provide enough capital to allow the needed, but costly upgrades necessary to keep our bridges safe.

Progress (as of 4/22/08):
Through City funding, DOT's division of Roadway Repair and Maintenance projects that 950 lane miles will be resurfaced in between July 2007 and June 2008, an increase of 50 lane miles over what had been planned. DOT is hiring additional staff and is obtaining enough equipment to increase this output to 1,000 lane miles in the next year. Until recently, the City had been targeting 700 lane miles of resurfacing per year. Already, the increased investment has stopped the decline in the City's Street Assessment rating, with an increase from 69.9% to 70.4% of streets rated in good condition over the past year. By increasing the resurfacing amount to 1,000 lane miles, the City expects to continue this upward trend in Street Assessment, reflecting an improved condition of the city's streets.

Also through City funding, DOT is on pace to continue maintaining all of the City's bridges in a state of good repair. Major upcoming projects include the rehab of the Brooklyn Bridge ramps, which will take place from 2009-2014 and the continuation of the Harlem River Bridge rehabs between 2007-2016.