Long Island road repairs could be hampered by inflation, oil prices

The state Transportation Department is gearing up for a "robust" season of road resurfacing, its head said Tuesday, though expiring federal funds, rising inflation and higher oil prices could hamper repairs to Long Island's winter-battered roads.

The state plans to repave portions of the Northern State Parkway in Nassau and Suffolk and Sunrise Highway in Hempstead Town this year, DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said at an event hosted by the Long Island Association in Melville.

She also called for expanding speed cameras in work zones to roads like Sunrise Highway and Route 110.

Dominguez said the state plans to spend $107 million this year to repave nearly 225 state-owned lane miles on Long Island.

Besides portions of the Northern State and Sunrise Highway, the state will also repave parts of the Long Island Expressway in Nassau; Hempstead Turnpike; and state routes 25, 27A and 111 in Suffolk this year, according to an internal presentation Newsday obtained.

"Taken together, all of this represents a very ambitious annual road resurfacing agenda," Dominguez said. "I appreciate everybody's patience. Just know that we are on a blitz statewide addressing potholes as fast as we possibly can on all of our state roadways."

Stacey Sikes, LIA’s acting president and CEO, said "it's critical to keep funding our road infrastructure because it results in an economic return."

This winter has been rough on Long Island’s roads, with heavy snow and frequent freeze-thaw cycles, cracking pavement.

Still, some cautioned that rising inflation in the highway construction industry could eat into plans.

The war in Iran has driven up fuel prices dramatically — with effects on the costs of transporting materials and the materials themselves, since asphalt is a petroleum product.

"The potholes that are there, you're gonna get to less of them" if inflation continues to worsen, said Marc Herbst, executive director of the Long Island Contractors’ Association.

Meanwhile, there are other sources of uncertainty. Congress is negotiating a new surface transportation reauthorization bill to replace the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021, which expires at the end of September. New York will also come up with a new five-year capital plan for transportation as the current one expires early next year, but Herbst said he fears it will be less ambitious if federal commitments aren't clear.

Dominguez also discussed Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to expand work-zone speed cameras.

Overall, speeds are down over 30% where the mobile cameras — loaded on the backs of parked trucks — are used, she said.

Speed cameras on Long Island can only be used in work zones on controlled-access highways like the expressway and parkways, but not on roads with intersections. The governor’s budget proposal includes a provision to expand their use in work zones on noncontrolled access highways, and also to increase penalties for assaulting highway workers.

Late last month, a highway worker was hospitalized for 12 days after being hit by a speeder on the LIE near Exit 62.

By Peter Gill

peter.gill@newsday.com