By Stephanie West
June 19, 2015
The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) is slated to receive substantially more funding in the city's 2016 Executive Budget than it did last year. The DOT spending plan for Fiscal Year 2015-2019 totals $8.2 billion. That's $1.5 billion, or 23-percent more than the FY 2014-2018 plan. The full increase is funded by the city.
The largest part of the DOT capital program, Highway Bridges, receive $3.2 billion in new commitments over the five-year plan period, a 19-percent increase from a year ago. Funding for improving structures rated "fair" or "good" is set to rise substantially, notably with the inclusion of $357 million for reconstruction of the Shore Road Bridge in Brooklyn and $521 million for design and reconstruction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Triple Cantilever Bridge. Construction on the Triple Cantilever will continue through 2022 and cost $1.7 billion in all.
Highway projects are the second-largest piece of the DOT budget, with more than $3 billion in commitments over five years. The plan includes funding for road resurfacing of 752 lane-miles per year starting in 2016, and full reconstruction of 407 lane-miles over ten years.
"The City has proposed an aggressive capital plan that addresses key transportation improvements,” said Building Congress President Richard Anderson. “The DOT, along with other city agencies that support its capital program, will have to work to streamline administration to ensure this program is efficiently implemented.”
