Editorial: Clear path to rebuild NYS roads

New York's roads and highways are hardly a national model -- they need work and so do New Yorkers.

So it's a boon for the construction industry, as well as anyone cruising along an expressway or strolling through a park, that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is accelerating $1.2 billion in needed infrastructure repairs and another $89 million for state parks.

The $132.6-billion state budget adopted last week included the funding, while eliminating dozens of boards and commissions. And it created the New York Works plan, which gives the governor more sway over which projects get done, but also better coordinates the oversight. The plan includes a new 15-member task force that will include nine Cuomo appointments to the State Legislature's six. The panel will eventually oversee $16 billion in annual capital projects that had historically been managed by 45 state agencies and authorities, but which weren't doing a good enough job of coordinating efforts.

New Yorkers need infrastructure that isn't cracking, crumbling or deficient, as most of the bridges on the project list are. And unemployment here remains high: At 9.2 percent throughout the state, it's up from 8.6 percent a year ago. Nassau County's unemployment rate is 7.3 percent while Suffolk's is 8.3 percent. New York City's is a whopping 10.2 percent.

Though many of the projects announced this week were already at various stages in the pipeline, the governor's model speeds up and streamlines efforts. It also utilizes federal money that in some cases represents a dollar-for-dollar match. This will put people back to work. And it should consolidate accountability -- no simple task in Albany.

Around Long Island, the infrastructure funding translates into $40.6 million for nine projects, including:

$16 million for nine bridges along the Meadowbrook and Southern State parkways;

$20.2 million to repair Long Island Expressway overpasses at Hempstead Turnpike, Pinelawn Road, Ronkonkoma Avenue, Waverly Avenue and Great Neck Road;

$17.6 million to repave 86 miles of roads in Nassau and Suffolk;

$33.6 million for Belmont Lake, Bethpage, Captree, Jones Beach, Nissequogue River, Planting Fields Arboretum and Sunken Meadow state parks.

In New York City, it means the $460-million replacement of the Kosciuszko Bridge linking Brooklyn and Queens, and $29.4 million for new pavement on the Gowanus, West Shore, Staten Island, Bruckner and Major Deegan expressways.

Sure this all comes with a hefty price tag, but it needs to get done. Business groups, trade organizations and lawmakers agree that this is good for workers, the economy and the state.

The trick is to keep projects on time and on budget. That might be the task force members' ultimate roadblock -- but it's up to them to steer clear.