Mayor de Blasio announces record 5,000 lane miles of city roadways have been repaved
MANHATTAN, New York City (WABC) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that thanks to a 10-year investment of $1.6 billion in street repaving, New York City had this week paved its 5,000th lane-mile since 2014.
That's more than a quarter of the 19,000 total lane-miles citywide, long enough for a road to Las Vegas and back. The increased repaving has driven down potholes 44 percent.
The mayor made the announcement while visiting a Department of Transportation yard on Staten Island, where 42 percent of roadways have been resurfaced in the last four years. De Blasio also announced several investments and innovations coming to DOT's paving efforts, according to a press release:
- Reining in street cuts for utility work - A newly paved street can last 10 to 20 years, but too often, repaved streets are quickly marred by utility "street cuts." DOT announced that starting in July, it will bar street cuts for repairs for two years after a street is repaved on Staten Island (the current permit-hold time is 18 months, with any repairs made during that time requiring significant and costly restoration of the street at the utility's expense). If successful, the policy will be applied citywide. Going forward, DOT will also meet regularly with National Grid and Con Edison to better plan and coordinate any disruptive work they plan on city roadways.
- New paving equipment - As part of the city's increased investment in paving, DOT announced that it has made a $36 million investment in its fleet of street paving equipment - including new trucks, milling equipment and steamrollers -- that have increased the productivity and efficiency of its Roadways work crews.
- Rubberized asphalt - After a recent successful pilot along Fingerboard Road on Staten Island, DOT will be looking to expand the use of innovative roadway materials that combines recycled crumb rubber with liquid asphalt. Rubberized streets appear to suffer fewer cracks and also offer quieter drives.
- Red asphalt - DOT will expand the use of red asphalt for dedicated bus lanes. Bus lanes paved with red asphalt are more cost-effective: they last longer and completely eliminate the need for street painting and touch-ups.
- High-Performance Asphalt Overlay - After the successful conversions of Manhattan's First Avenue and Fordham Road in the Bronx, DOT will explore the transformation of the city's concrete roadways with a new overlay of asphalt. Concrete roads with an asphalt layer reduce traffic noise and are less expensive to repair.
DOT indicated major streets in every borough that will be repaved in the last six weeks of the current fiscal year that ends on June 30, including:
- Third and Fifth Avenues in Manhattan
- Castle Hill and Lafayette Avenues in the Bronx
- Northern and Vernon Boulevards in Queens
- Rochester and Troy Avenues in Brooklyn
- Arden Avenue and Todt Hill Road on Staten Island
In 2015, the mayor announced a $1.6 billion commitment to resurface roads all over the city over ten years. DOT repaved 1,265 lane miles in FY16, and 1,324 lane miles in FY17.
So far in FY18, crews have resurfaced over 1,000 lane-miles. It is the highest three-year output of paved lane-miles in DOT's recorded history.
DOT both procures and produces asphalt at its two plants for resurfacing and filling potholes. In 2017, DOT used nearly 1.3 million tons of asphalt.
For information about DOT's ongoing work to address potholes and maintain the City's road network, please visit NYC.gov/DOT. Pothole conditions should be reported immediately to The Daily Pothole or to 311.
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