State Leaders Reach Deal on MTA Spending Plan
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ALBANY – Governor Pataki and legislative leaders reached an agreement yesterday on the projects to be covered in a $38.5 billion multiyear transportation program, including those covered by a $2.9 billion bond act voters are being asked to approve in November.
State leaders are hoping that by publicizing now what projects the bond act will cover, they can convince voters to approve taking on the debt and avoid a repeat of 2000, when voters rejected a $3.8 billion transportation bond act.
At the same time, the state Capital Program Review Board authorized its $18 billion portion of a $21.1 billion five-year spending plan the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved earlier this year, officials said.
The operator of New York City’s mass-transit system plans to build a Second Avenue subway line, a connection between the Long Island Rail Road and Grand Central Terminal, and a direct rail link between Lower Manhattan and John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The $38.5 billion is to be split evenly, funding bridge and road projects outside New York City as well as improvements to the MTA.
An agreement on projects was delayed over questions of whether to pay nonunion workers union-scale wages on certain projects. The Department of Transportation’s acting commissioner, Thomas Madison, said that a deal was reached that requires virtually all projects being paid for with public money to pay union-level wages.
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who on Tuesday called for state leaders to put out a transportation spending plan as soon as possible, welcomed news of the agreement. “It will be a shot in the arm for the state economy,” he said. “When the governor and the Legislature work together, good things happen.”
Regional transportation projects include $171 million to improve the Kew Gardens Interchange, which links the Van Wyck Expressway, Jackie Robinson Parkway, and Grand Central Parkway in Queens. Also included: $60.6 million for completion improvements on Interstate 287, which connects the Tappan Zee Bridge with Interstate 95 in Westchester County.
